d'Arenberg The Twenty Eight Road Mourvedre 2018  £18.97

d'Arenberg The Twenty Eight Road Mourvedre 

Twenty Eight Road acts as the eastern boundary of the Osborn vineyard and the d’Arenberg winery. Most of the grapes for this wine are sourced from a 3.6-acre block of bush vine Mourvèdre that runs parallel with Twenty-Eight Road. It was planted in 1918 by the first and second Generation, Joseph and Frank Osborn. As the winery has expanded this block has been protected as it represents the history of d’Arenberg and produces this very special and unique wine.

Quite a wet winter with July, August and September being way above average in rainfall. October, November and December were a little below average and January, February and March were more or less bone dry. Temperatures were mild until late January, so vines seemed to be delayed and harvest appeared like it was again going to be late. However, a few hot days and nights brought the ripening forward with a slight sacrifice of acidity. The above-average temperatures of February and March and the dryness made everything ripen relatively quickly. Yields appeared on the lighter side because the heat and dry conditions did reduce them significantly, however they were still quite respectable across all varieties.

Small batches of grapes are crushed gently and then transferred to five tonnes headed down open fermenters. These batches remain separate until final blending. Foot treading is undertaken two-thirds of the way through fermentation. The wine is then basket pressed and transferred to old French oak barriques to complete fermentation. The barrel ferments are aged on lees, and there is no racking until final blending. The Twenty Eight Road does not undertake fining or filtration prior to bottling.

A special release celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the planting of this Mourvèdre vineyard. Upfront, we see notes of raspberry, iodine, red plum, mushroom and some green herbaceous aromas. As the wine evolves in the glass we discover herbs of Provence and some gamey animal and earthy flavours. There is a very lifted vibrancy to the wine due to the vine age. Fine and very savoury tannins. Give it time, this wine will become a show stopper.