2010 Chirac

Bright gold in colour with a complex savoury bouquet supporting underlying zesty Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit throughout its delicious palate, this richly flavoured Chirac was disgorged after 150 months on lees. The fine-textured, persistent mousse and lively flavours throughout complete the long and balanced mouth feel of this classic Chirac. Enjoy the savoury freshness and savour the richness of texture so much a part of this unique wine.

Al/Vol 12.5%

Vineyard

Grapes for this sparkling style come from the lowest points of the Chardonnay and Schubert vineyards as well as the entire 1984 planting of Pinot Noir. We use the fruit from these areas because it is usually slightly higher in acid than the balance of the blocks and as a result the juice expression is of fruit freshness rather than varietal expression. We only attempt a “Chirac” in the cooler years at Bloodwood.

The grapes

We aim for 12 Be and 8 g/l acid. As with all Bloodwood wines, the fruit is hand picked and sorted if necessary and immediately processed at the winery. The Pinot component which is usually around 30% provides the mouth-feel we need to balance the somewhat racy Chardonnay fruit.

Vintage Conditions

2010 was a year of contrasts. A below average winter led on to a moderate and moist summer season with good rains from December to February. Luckily, things dried out for the harvest and fruit quality was very good across most varieties. In the winery, it soon became obvious that Chardonnay and Pinot Noir quality for sparkling production was above average with good acid/fruit balance which has followed through into the wines. Hand-picking of the fruit for the base wine for this wine took place on 15th March 2010.

Winemaking

Whole bunch pressing until just before the first awkward phenolics appear usually yields around 480 to 500 litres per tonne. We handled the juice quite oxidatively and cool fermented it to dryness aiming for a total SO2 of less than 40 ppm with around 10 or so free. Post-ferment racking to clean stainless steel and a little very old, very clean white French oak then followed prior to tirage and commencement of secondary ferment on 9th November 2010. The tiraged wine lingered for an extraordinary 150 months on lees before it was disgorged, sulfur adjusted and liquered to 5g/l for you to enjoy. This all is a very expensive, risky and time consuming activity which means we accept the Bloodwood Chirac as a loss leader in our portfolio. Doesn't all that sound like we know what we are real business people who know what we are talking about? If only I understood the meaning of the word “charmat?” Anyhoo, chill a bottle, crumble out the Parmesan and enjoy this time capsule from our 2010 vintage.

Wine Analysis

PH 3.10

Acidity 6.8g/l

Alc/Vol 12.47%

Tasting Notes

Bright gold in colour with a complex savoury bouquet supporting underlying zesty Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit throughout its delicious palate, this richly flavoured Chirac was disgorged after 150 months on lees. The fine-textured, persistent mousse and lively flavours throughout complete the long and balanced mouth feel of this classic Chirac. Enjoy the savoury freshness and savour the richness of texture so much a part of this unique wine. Al/Vol 12.5%

2019 Pinot Noir

Gorgeous bright carmine in colour, this positively gentle Pinot Noir’s bouquet of dusty, cherry chocolate and fresh, lipstick red berry fruits are caressed in restrained, fine-grained French oak tannins. If ladies old handbags have an elegant intrigue about them, then so does this beautifully textured Bloodwood Pinot Noir.

13.1% Al/Vol

Vineyard

The Pinot Noir from Bloodwood is grown on the top 12 rows of the Maurice Vineyard..

Yes we know that’s a bit confusing given that the Maurice is a style of wine which isn’t necessarily tied to a particular plot of ground..but..bear with me. The original few rows planted in 1984 were, and are to be found in the middle of our original Cabernet Sauvignon planting. We were anxious to see how the fruit performed without any special Pinophiliac attention. It did very well, so the next five rows were planted at the very top of the Maurice vineyard block. Both plantings were to MV6 clone, however we now have, in addition, two hundred or so each of clones 777; 114 and 115.adjoining the Maurice

vineyard. These vines are all close planted on an easterly slope of 20 degrees in a north/south orientation and Scott‐Henry trellised to open to the western side of the vine.

This gives a bit of added light and warmth to the ripening grapes in cooler years.

Vintage Conditions

The Weather At Bloodwood is always the same; It's Different!

Winter and Spring rainfall for the growing season leading up to vintage 2019 were around the median with 149 mm for the months of June, July and August and 208 mm for the calendar spring months. There was no run-off into irrigation storages and the long-term drying trend continues. After record heat in January 2019, the run-up to and through harvest was extraordinarily dry and stable. Between 1/2/2019 and 17/3/2019 we only recorded 3.8 mm of rain with temperatures 0.9C warmer than the same period for 2018.

Quality of each vintage is often determined by the stability of the ripening months, so 2019 holds above average promise for us here at Bloodwood even though yields were well down around 30% on a normal (sic) year. This is closely related to the continuing and intensifying drought we are all suffering and we give thanks for our limited access to irrigation.

Winemaking

For details of this wine you need look no further than the last entry in the “Styles” section of this site. http://www.bloodwood.biz/styles/63-red.html Because of the very small quantity (normally no more than 750 litres) produced from the vineyard, we consider ourselves lucky to make two or three barrels of Pinot Noir each vintage. 2019 provided three 300 litre hogsheads and 100 litres of topping material. As a consequence, there is

little room to engage in any fancy wine making or blending with Bloodwood Pinot Noir.

The grapes were de-stemmed, cold soaked and open fermented under natural yeasts with regular gentle hand plunging. The pressed wine was transferred warm to barrel where it finished malo-lactic conversion, and after 6 months in barrel, it was bench-trialled and transferred unfiltered into bottle in October 2019.

Wine Analysis

pH 3.41

Acidity 6.7 g/l

13.1% Al/Vol

Tasting Notes

Gorgeous bright carmine in colour, this positively gentle Pinot Noir’s bouquet of dusty, cherry chocolate and fresh, lipstick red berry fruits are caressed in restrained, fine-grained French oak tannins. If ladies old handbags have an elegant intrigue about them, then so does this beautifully textured Bloodwood Pinot Noir.

Alc/Vol 13.1%

2019 Bloodwood Maurice

Bruised dark scarlet in colour, the invitingly ripe black fruited potpourri bouquet eases through a fruit dense palate of ripe dark chocolate and vanillin char. Those same black fruits suffuse a long-textured, well balanced fleshy palate framed in fluent, very finely integrated French oak tannins. Gentle medium term cellaring will only add to your enjoyment of this fine wine.

Al/Vol 13.4%

Vineyard

Bloodwood Maurice is a cellar style of wine which represents, for us, the best few barrels from the best few vintages in terms of quality and longevity here at Bloodwood. Ipso facto, (I’ve always wanted to say that when talking about wine) only a very few vintages are good enough for a release of a Bloodwood "Maurice". We have to find around six hogsheads (1800 litres) of red wine which we consider to be of high enough quality and interest to qualify. There is no strict varietal mix from year to year, but lately it has been blended around Cabernet Sauvignon and its cousins Franc, Malbec and Merlot Noir. (Having said that, the 1998 Maurice, which was entirely Merlot Noir, won high praise from Jancis Robinson.) Over the last fifteen vintages we have only released Maurice from four of them. The 2019 example is amongst the best.

Vintage Conditions

The Weather At Bloodwood is always the same; It's Different!

Winter and Spring Rainfall for the growing season leading up to vintage 2019 were around the median with 149 mm for the months of June, July and August and 208 mm for the calendar spring months. There was no run-off into irrigation storages and the long-term drying trend continues. After record heat in January 2019, the run-up to and through harvest was extraordinarily dry and stable. Between 1/2/2019 and 17/3/2019 we only recorded 3.8 mm of rain with temperatures 0.9C warmer than the same period for 2018.

Quality of each vintage is often determined by the stability of the ripening months, so 2019 holds above average promise for us here at Bloodwood even though yields were well down around 30% on a normal year. This is closely related to the continuing and intensifying drought we are all suffering and we give thanks for our limited access to irrigation.

It is interesting that pH and acid levels were all over the shop. Some wines analysed with higher than normal pH levels and lower than usual total acidities if moisture during ripening was an issue. Fermentation, particularly for reds was generally short and sharp without effective temperature control. Early indications are that reds are more than good. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Shiraz and Pinot Noir are all good. Chardonnay quality is a bit patchy because of the extreme heat and dryness although Riesling seems to have coped pretty well with the warmth. Winemaking skill in vintage 2019 was more important than usual.

Winemaking

As I’ve outlined elsewhere, we believe in macro oxygenation during the early fermentation process after extended cold soaking on skins here at Bloodwood. And this wine is no exception. After hand selection and picking, the home SA125 Cabernet vineyard fruit was hand plunged with plenty of air in an open fermenter, as was a co-ferment of the best fruit from our Cabernet Franc, Merlot Noir and Malbec vineyard. As usual, a high proportion of whole berries are a constant in all our red ferments, and regular oxygenation during primary ferment bring the tannins into shape early in the wine making process. After malo-lactic conversion by the spring of 2019, the new wine spent 24 months in a mix of very high quality 75% new and the balance older French oak immersion bent hogsheads before sterile filtration and bottling in September 2021.

Wine Analysis

pH 3.6

Acidity 6.0 g/l

Alc/Vol 13.4%

Tasting Notes

Bruised dark scarlet in colour, the invitingly ripe black fruited potpourri bouquet eases through a fruit dense palate of ripe dark chocolate and vanillin char. Those same black fruits suffuse a long-textured, well balanced fleshy palate framed in fluent, very finely integrated French oak tannins. Gentle medium term cellaring will only add to your enjoyment of this fine wine.

Al/Vol 13.4%

Normal pricing per bottle is as follows:

Total price would normally be $418 including freight.

Dance of Dreams offer, including freight $375