Penley Gryphon Merlot | Moreno Wines

Wine Producer:

Penley Estate

Winemaking:

Picked at maximum flavour development. Barrel fermented using a mix of French oak producers and forests, to provide complexity, while maintaining Penley’s hallmark integration. Fermentation takes 7-10 days at temperatures of 15-18oC to maintain flavour profile. Circulation through traditional “heading down” tanks (open fermenters, with submerged caps) helps maximise colour, flavour and tannin extraction, achieving delicacy of fruit characters, great richness of palate, and softness of tannins.

Wine Style:

Red

Winery Info:

This is now our 4th year of working with the wine auteur Kym Tolley and his outstanding Penley Estate wines, and it's been a steadily building success. Later this year, Kym will celebrate Penley's first 20 years since its establishment in the heart of Coonawarra in 1988. Since the word go, the awards have flooded in, both from the grueling and ultra-critical Aussie wine judging circuit, and from international wine critics such as Robert Parker and UK-based Matthew Jukes. Our take on the wines is that they are always elegant and balanced, distinctly European attributes that are notoriously hard to find in wines from the world's driest continent. They also show a marked ability to age gracefully in bottle. Being Australian, they are distinctive and full flavoured but they are never heavy or clumsy. Coonawarra is situated in the south east of South Australia and is an area that is about 15km long and 2 km wide. It is approximately 4.5 hours drive from the heart of Melbourne or 4 hours from Adelaide. It sits at 37 Degrees latitude which is 450km closer to the equator than Bordeaux. Penley Estate's high scores and warm words from international wine pundits are welcome, but it does mean that we know exactly what we can expect for the next few years. Kym's wines are widely distributed around the world, and the UK has to fight for its allocation the same as everyone else. Despite all this, there is a varied selection of wines.

Vineyard information:

Penley Estate's 166 Ha estate is situated in Australia's famous Cabernet Sauvignon district, Coonawarra. When Kym purchased the land it was a green site and now there is currently there is 111 hectares under vine including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, shiraz, merlot, pinot noir, pinot munier and chardonnay. The vineyard is established on limestone covered by the famous 'terra rossa' soil of the Coonawarra. This, combined with ideal cool climatic conditions and an abundance of sunshine make a perfect location for vine growing. Coonawarra experiences warm dry summers and cool wet winters. Generally the cooler the climate the more balanced the flavours and Coonawarra is known for having one of the longest ripening seasons of the world. The approximate annual rainfall is 628mm which is similar to the regions of Bordeaux in France which is well known for its Cabernet producing qualities. Average summer temperature is 18.8 °C whilst the average winter temperature is 9.8 °C. People have been talking about the current Australian drought, and it has caused complete mayhem in the broad acres of Riverland and Riverina where irrigation is essential. Kym's sustainable vineyards on classic terrarossa soil in Coonawarra, mostly dry-farmed, have been much less affected by this biblical agricultural catastrophe. Yields in 2007 were only 15% down, while 2008 was normal and of very high quality.

Food Pairing:

Perfect with a rost duck, and plum sauce!

Abv:

14.5%

Grape Variety:

Merlot

Tasting Note:

Deep ruby red in colour. On the nose it is rich and complex with hints of distinct floral and violet fruit and subtle sweet French vanilla oak. Typical Coonawarra spicy berry flavours. Medium bodied with a strong mid palate of rich red berry notes and integrated smoky vanilla French oak, finishing with a refined silky tannin structure. Parker describes it as offering ‘toasty cassis, blackcurrant and olive aromas which leads to a supple medium to full-bodied wine with sweet fruit and light tannin’.