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www.buyersandcellars.ca Cellar Profile
In 1980, the Leask family moved from the Hunter Valley to McLaren Vale, in Southeast Australia. They have since purchased several vineyards through the hilly, iconic region, allowing brothers Malcolm and Richard to finally open their own winery. The vineyards sit upon mineral-rich reddish-brown loam and clay soils, with quartzite and sand. These iconic reddish soils are high in iron content, imparting a savoury, umami note to a lot of the wines. While the days get quite warm during the growing season, there is a strong ocean breeze from the nearby Gulf of Saint Vincent, which also drops the temperature markedly during the evening, allowing the grapes to cool and maintaining freshness in the wines. In the vineyard, H&Y practices Regenerative Agriculture, working the vineyards in such a way as to help reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity. With a preference for Mediterranean and Iberian Peninsula varieties, they offer an eclectic collection of wines including Tempranillo, Nero d’Avola, Touriga Nacional, Aglianico, Malbec and Carignan. Buyers+Cellars is pleased to offer the acclaimed, limited quantity Tempranillo and Malbec for the first time in Ontario.
Region
McLaren Vale is a sub-region of South-Eastern Australia, near the town of Adelaide. It has a Mediterranean climate, with long warm days and short cool evenings during the growing season. The soils are mixed, with pockets of iron-rich, terra rosa soils and dry clay. The soils are free draining, meaning winemakers can strictly control the water levels in the vines, but the proximity to the ocean ensures there is enough rainfall to need little irrigation; indeed, there are more than a few wineries that are able to dry farm even in the warmest years. The region is prized for creating intense, aromatic reds of power and elegance and has been planted since the early 1800s to vitis vinifera.
Vineyard
The Old Jarvie Vineyard, established in 2010, has a soil base of reddish-brown clay, with silt and quartzite. Sitting in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges, this vineyard sees a little more rain that the Home Vineyard. Hither & Yon believes in working the vineyards ecologically, with a strong focus on biodiversity, natural habitat restoration and native species planting.
Varieties
Tempranillo is an early-ripening variety that tends to thrive in chalky vineyard soils such as those of the Ribera del Duero and Rioja regions of Spain. In Portugal, where the grape is known as Tinto Roriz and Aragonez, it is blended with other varieties to produce Port. In 2015, Tempranillo was the fourth most widely-planted wine grape variety in the world; 87% of these plantings are in Spain. Depending on vineyard age and mesoclimate, tempranillo-based wines result in notes ranging from strawberries, blackcurrants and cherries to prunes, chocolate and tobacco.
Winemaking
Hand-harvested fruit was whole-bunch sorted before de-stemming. The grapes were crushed into open top stainless steel and macerated for 8 days, with twice daily plungings of the cap for more extraction. After fermentation was complete, the wine was pressed into seasoned French Hogsheads, using only free run juice, for 4 months of aging.
Tasting Notes
Aromas of black tea, cola, black cherry and spearmint. On the palate, the black cherry is joined by dark chocolate, baking spice, black currant and red pepper jelly. There is a vivacity to the wine, a lightness on the palate that is unexpected considering the intensity of flavour. Serve at cellar temperature and enjoy with seared pork belly, chicken tacos or a goat cheese and beet salad.