Vineyard
It was with good foresight and fortune that Leon Tokar decided to plant the then little known Spanish variety Tempranillo in 1999. We now have the some of the oldest Tempranillo in the Yarra Valley, planted directly outside the Tokar Estate restaurant on a gentle North facing slope. Spur pruned to a VSP trellis. The leaves are enormous on the vine so a couple of leaf removals are performed through the growing season to encourage sunlight on to the bunches to enhance the colour and structure of the wine. The grapes for The Aria are picked from the Eastern edge of the block, based on flavour and tannin ripeness in the grape skins.
Winemaking
The Tempranillo bunches were hand harvested and immediately sorted, destemmed, crushed and tipped into three upright French oak 500L puncheons with their headboards removed. Within the oak they went through fermentation with wild yeasts before a long post fermentation (4 weeks on skins), with a focus on building structure through a patient and gentle extraction of tannin. Once the desired structure was achieved, the wine was pressed, returned to the same barrels they were fermented in, with the headboards reattached. The barrelled wine was then matured in our underground cellar for 14 months before bottling without fining or filtration.
Sensory Analysis
The deep purple hue alerts that this is a wine of concentration. From a freshly opened bottle, a gamey whiff greets the drinker but this quickly subdues to reveal boysenberry and fresh cherry fruit. Flavours of blood orange, chinoto and dried grass follow on the palate, sitting plush with fine tannin caressing the entire mouth. It is this tannin, the bright acidity and the concentrated core of fruit that will see this wine into several decades. The wine evolves in the glass, with the wine’s many nuances each taking their turn in the spotlight.
Volume
1760 bottles (750mL) & 100 magnums (1500mL).
Each individually numbered.
10% Discount off any 6 Bottle Purchase – Max 6 Bottles of this wine
1 x Bottle of 2015 Tokar Estate ‘The Aria’ Reserve Tempranillo
