Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache Mclaren Vale 2016 (750ml)

 

Rated 95 Points by Wine Enthusiast Magazine

 

 

Ranked #9 Top 100 Cellar Selections 2019

 

by Wine Enthusiast Magazine

 

This is the second release of this wine, sourced from the estate's old bush vines and fermented on skins in large ceramic eggs.  The nose is a complex medley of aromas like dried rose petals, brambly red berries, mushrooms, damp earth and what seems like a whole garden of herbs.  Texturally, it's like chalk dust, sliced with laser-sharp acidity and wound with tight-grained tannins.  A tightrope walk of power and elegance, the bright, juicy fruit and savory, mineral nuances flow right through to the finish.  Drink 2020–2030.

 

Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache Mclaren Vale 2016

 

The name ‘Ovitelli’ is a portmanteau of ‘ovi’ and ‘vitelli’ meaning ‘egg’ and ‘life’ respectively.

 

“The Ovitelli Grenache is our most perfumed and elegant Grenache from the sands of the Yangarra.  The vibrant fruit of those dry-grown 1946 bush vines is rewarded with a long luxurious ferment and a whole autumn on skins in big ceramic eggs.  Peter Fraser, Winemaker

 

The Ovitelli Grenache is our most perfumed and elegant Grenache from the sands at Yangarra.  The vibrant fruit of the dry-grown 1946 planted bush vines is rewarded with a long, luxurious ferment and a whole autumn on skins in big ceramic eggs.  This is our most elegant Grenache with great emphasis on perfume, tension and precision.

 

Blend:  100% Grenache

 

Alcohol:  14.5%

 

Stunning small-batch Grenache grown biodynamically and made in ceramic egg.

 

A Grenache of remarkable purity and energy here from the team at Yangarra.  As winemaker Peter Fraser notes, "The Ovitelli is our most elegant Grenache from the sands at Yangarra, with great emphasis on perfume, tension and precision."

 

To create the Ovitelli Grenache a selection of the best fruit from the old Grenache vines that populate the Yangarra vineyard is carefully berry sorted then sent to ceramic egg to ferment naturally and is left to rest on skins for  an amazing 191 days before being pressed.

 

This is an ethereal Grenache, a nervy and tightly coiled rendition of the variety, which speaks eloquently of its home.

 

Only 250 dozen made.

 

Winemaking

 

The fruit was hand-picked and mechanically sorted.  100% of the fruit was then destemmed, crushed and tipped into 675L ceramic eggs.  The fermentation occurred in the eggs and the wine remained on skins for 191 days post-fermentation.  Exclusively matured in ceramic eggs.  No pressings were used.  Not fined.  Certified organic/biodynamic.

 

 

Yangarra History

 

There were vineyards in the foothills near Yangarra Estate by 1850.

 

In 1862, Ebenezer Ward, the most colourful wine critic of his day, described one nearby vineyard as a “gigantic pyramid of verdure, its slopes and summit clothed with luxuriant vines”.  These included “Temprana, Shiraz, Malbec, Carbonet, Mataro, Carignan and Grenache”.  The Grenache was considered “especially valuable for its erect, self-supporting habit, its fecundity, and the richness of its must”.

 

A rival wine scribe of the day, Dr. Alex C. Kelly, wrote in 1867 that while “the two excellent white grapes of the Hermitage – Roussanne and Marsanne – have not been introduced into Adelaide, there is much for us to do in this matter, and it ought to be gone about without delay.”  Planting of the Yangarra Estate vineyards commenced in 1946, when the property was called Lalla Rookh – “love nest”.  In that year, Bernard Smart, who still lives on Yangarra with his wife, assisted his father to plant the High Sands vineyard to unirrigated bush vine Grenache.  They planted another vineyard adjacent in 1947, but that was enveloped and killed by drifting sand before it got the chance to properly establish.

 

For many years the fruit of the ‘46 planting was sought by local winemakers who used it to beef up wines from other smaller holdings across McLaren Vale.

 

In 2000, Jess Jackson and his wife Barbara Banke (proprietors of Jackson Family Wines) began investigating Australia’s potential for a world-class Shiraz and Grenache vineyard.  A year later they purchased  Yangarra Estate, in awe of the priceless old bush vines which they knew would give the reborn Estate its gastronomic heart and soul.

 

The appointments of local men Peter Fraser, winemaker, and Michael Lane, viticulturer, completed the first stage of Jess Jackson’s visionary plan.

 

In the decade since, the vineyard has been revived and extended, the water-courses rejuvenated and planted to native vegetation, the state-of-the-art winery built and commissioned, and a cellar sales and tastings room opened.

 

With this evolution, the wines of Yangarra Estate have steadily gained respect and critical acclaim.

 

 

Rated 95 Points by Wine Enthusiast Magazine

 

 

Ranked #9 Top 100 Cellar Selections 2019

 

by Wine Enthusiast Magazine

 

This is the second release of this wine, sourced from the estate's old bush vines and fermented on skins in large ceramic eggs.  The nose is a complex medley of aromas like dried rose petals, brambly red berries, mushrooms, damp earth and what seems like a whole garden of herbs.  Texturally, it's like chalk dust, sliced with laser-sharp acidity and wound with tight-grained tannins.  A tightrope walk of power and elegance, the bright, juicy fruit and savory, mineral nuances flow right through to the finish.  Drink 2020–2030.