2005 Black Arts Fifth Element (Red)

($35.99)

Tasting Notes

The aromas are explosive and, like any wine that ages, the flavours in this wine are transient. The dark berry characters that exist on release will caramelize over the years, though themes of coffee and chocolate will persist. There are fine and edgy tannins in this wine which will help it to age well. Whenever it is opened please have it with some protein as this, and time, are what soften these tannins in the mouth.

Notes on Fermentation

To be brief, there are 27 separate wine lots contained in this wine. They all come from the vineyards listed above but were separated out at the crush pad into separate fermenters for different treatments to build complexity. The separate treatments included yeast type, ferment temperature, maceration style and length, and prayers invoked during pressing. The point is that every effort was made to build a multi-layered wine both in flavour and in texture. Talk to Mike if you really want the details. Each lot was kept separate and allowed to complete malolactic fermentation in a variety of new to 3 year old French barrels (primarily Nevers, Troncais, and Bertranges). The wine was assembled in August of 2006 after 2 months of blending trials and returned to the same mix of barrels for ageing. These barrels were racked in June, 2007 and the wine was bottled shortly after with no fining done to the wine prior.