Meldville Impromptu 2021

Description

Impromptu 2021
VQA Niagara Peninsula

Brix at harvest: 20.2
pH: 3.61
TA: 6.4
Alc: 13%

Syrah 80%
Petit Verdot 10%
Malbec 10%

Production: 600 Bottles

Follow a fairly normal winter spring seemed to arrive quite quickly at the end of March. Through April we had warm sunny days which encouraged bud break a few days earlier than normal. May was relatively dry with some optimal rains gave us a great start to the growing season. Summer moved along with long dry spells and hot conditions. right through until the beginning of September. Things were looking great with really good flavours in the grapes and harvest looked to be getting close. Then came the rains and humidity which caused some concerns with disease pressure and having to work around some not so great conditions for harvest. However, I think by the time harvest was all in the flavours were great and the wines were nicely balanced.

The grapes for this wine were harvested from two small vineyards, one in Niagara on the Lake, the other in Beamsville. Grapes were crushed and destemmed before transfer to small fermenting bins. Grapes were co-fermented, punch downs were done by hand 3-4 times daily, extracting colour and flavour from the skins. After 26 days of skin contact the wine was pressed off the skins and moved to tank for a couple of days to settle off the heavier sediment. Following that it was transferred to French oak barrels where malolactic ferment was completed. The wine continued to age in the barrels for another 16 months.