Wine Article
2009 JoieFarm PTG
Last edited on 5/6/2012 by fries
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VARIETALS
Pinal Nair 63%
Three Sisters. Naramata
Cellars Bend Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Zellers !=amily Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Gamay37%
Three Sisters Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Cavada Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Deep Roots Vineyard, Naramata Bench
TECHNICAL INFO
Ph
3.61
Total Acidity
6.6 giL
Residual Sugar
2g/L
Alcohol
13.0%
Production
980 cases
Our Reserve wines are hand-crafted, small batch lots with an emphasis on low-yields, careful selection and traditional Old World methods. PTG stands for "Passetoutgrain", a classic, but little known wine of Burgundy that combines the elegant Pinot Noir of the Cote d'Or with the rich, spicy Gamay of Beaujolais. Both of these varieties excel in the climate and soils of the Okanagan Valley. We utilize our best fruit from each vintage, work in small fermentation lots, employ partial whole cluster fermentation (vintage dependant) and gentle pressing and then age the wine for 10-12 months in a combination of premium French Oak barriques, puncheons and a 3000L wooden fermenter to create a wine of both richness and finesse.
2009 VINTAGE
The 2009 vintage was an extreme one with a very long hot summer sandwiched in between the harshest winter of the past 30 year and the earliest autumn frost in recent memory, with little in the way of shoulder seasons in between. While this made both farming and winemaking challenging, extremely rewarding wines were made by those who paid attention to atypical weather and ripening patterns and who changed their normal production calendars, accordingly. Deep cold in December 2008 of -27 C for 7 days left many vineyards with serious vine death and bud damage on more sensitive varieties making for smaller yields. Winter hardy varietals like GewOrztraminer and Pinot Noir show very little damage and had strangely abundant crop loads in 2009. A cold late spring delayed bud break until the third week of May. Shortly thereafter, very summer-like temperatures (low 30s) set in and we saw rapid growth in late May and early June causing shoot-thinning by mid-June. Flowering in the central part of the Okanagan occurred on June 15 - 29th and untimely heavy rain at flowering for Riesling and Muscat caused lower fruit set for us with these varietals. The high summer temperatures were consistent throughout July and August and continued right through until late September. JoieFarm began harvesting on September 9th - a full four weeks earlier than normal. The prolonged heat and smaller crop loads accelerated ripeness and timely vineyard management allowed
us to bring in all of our fruit by October 6th, maintaining optimum natural acidity and reasonable brix levels in the grapes. Autumn came to a screeching halt on October 9th with night-time temperatures falling to -8 C for three nights in a row. This deep freeze was particularily untimely as most of the red grapes in the Okanagan Valley were still hanging. The valley's growing season was over abruptly, about four weeks earlier than normal.
VINIFICATION
The fruit was hand picked and a sorting table was utilized to select only the best fruit. A portion of the fruit was selected to be crushed and de-stemmed and then fermented in small stainless steel tanks that allowed for easy punch downs twice a day. Our red fermentation technique revolves around small lots. This allows for complexity with yeast strain selection, temperature control, gentle handing of fruit and ease of punchdowns. This style of red fermentation allows us, particularily in the short 2009 vintage, to achieve the goal of preserving the fresh fruit character. No whole cluster fermention was employed in 2009 vintage (as is our usual practice with 1/3 of the PTG tonnage) due to the abrupt freeze in early October. No further ripening occurred after October 9· and a long hang time was not a winemaking reality. After fermentation, the wines were gently pressed off the skins, settled for 24 hours and then aged for 1 1 months in 100% French oak barriques and puncheons on fine lees. Our barrel program combines Allier & Troncais oak from Burgundian Coopers. 13% of the oak was new in 2009, 35% was second and third fills and the remaining barrels were completely neutral. During blending we refreshed the wine with 10% of 2010 Gamay from our cellar to add a boost of fresh ripe fruit. The wine was then cross flow filtered in order to gently focus the layers of the wine. We chose a natural cork closure of exceptional quality because we feel that the gradual exchange of oxygen that natural cork allows will enable this wine to improve for another 5-7 years and hold for at least 10.
TASTING NOTE
Pale garnet core with fresh, spicy aromas of strawberries and pink peppercorns. On the palate, vibrant flavours of anise, candied violet and white pepper move on to a persistent earthy, tamarind tangy finish.
Pinal Nair 63%
Three Sisters. Naramata
Cellars Bend Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Zellers !=amily Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Gamay37%
Three Sisters Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Cavada Vineyard, Naramata Bench
Deep Roots Vineyard, Naramata Bench
TECHNICAL INFO
Ph
3.61
Total Acidity
6.6 giL
Residual Sugar
2g/L
Alcohol
13.0%
Production
980 cases
Our Reserve wines are hand-crafted, small batch lots with an emphasis on low-yields, careful selection and traditional Old World methods. PTG stands for "Passetoutgrain", a classic, but little known wine of Burgundy that combines the elegant Pinot Noir of the Cote d'Or with the rich, spicy Gamay of Beaujolais. Both of these varieties excel in the climate and soils of the Okanagan Valley. We utilize our best fruit from each vintage, work in small fermentation lots, employ partial whole cluster fermentation (vintage dependant) and gentle pressing and then age the wine for 10-12 months in a combination of premium French Oak barriques, puncheons and a 3000L wooden fermenter to create a wine of both richness and finesse.
2009 VINTAGE
The 2009 vintage was an extreme one with a very long hot summer sandwiched in between the harshest winter of the past 30 year and the earliest autumn frost in recent memory, with little in the way of shoulder seasons in between. While this made both farming and winemaking challenging, extremely rewarding wines were made by those who paid attention to atypical weather and ripening patterns and who changed their normal production calendars, accordingly. Deep cold in December 2008 of -27 C for 7 days left many vineyards with serious vine death and bud damage on more sensitive varieties making for smaller yields. Winter hardy varietals like GewOrztraminer and Pinot Noir show very little damage and had strangely abundant crop loads in 2009. A cold late spring delayed bud break until the third week of May. Shortly thereafter, very summer-like temperatures (low 30s) set in and we saw rapid growth in late May and early June causing shoot-thinning by mid-June. Flowering in the central part of the Okanagan occurred on June 15 - 29th and untimely heavy rain at flowering for Riesling and Muscat caused lower fruit set for us with these varietals. The high summer temperatures were consistent throughout July and August and continued right through until late September. JoieFarm began harvesting on September 9th - a full four weeks earlier than normal. The prolonged heat and smaller crop loads accelerated ripeness and timely vineyard management allowed
us to bring in all of our fruit by October 6th, maintaining optimum natural acidity and reasonable brix levels in the grapes. Autumn came to a screeching halt on October 9th with night-time temperatures falling to -8 C for three nights in a row. This deep freeze was particularily untimely as most of the red grapes in the Okanagan Valley were still hanging. The valley's growing season was over abruptly, about four weeks earlier than normal.
VINIFICATION
The fruit was hand picked and a sorting table was utilized to select only the best fruit. A portion of the fruit was selected to be crushed and de-stemmed and then fermented in small stainless steel tanks that allowed for easy punch downs twice a day. Our red fermentation technique revolves around small lots. This allows for complexity with yeast strain selection, temperature control, gentle handing of fruit and ease of punchdowns. This style of red fermentation allows us, particularily in the short 2009 vintage, to achieve the goal of preserving the fresh fruit character. No whole cluster fermention was employed in 2009 vintage (as is our usual practice with 1/3 of the PTG tonnage) due to the abrupt freeze in early October. No further ripening occurred after October 9· and a long hang time was not a winemaking reality. After fermentation, the wines were gently pressed off the skins, settled for 24 hours and then aged for 1 1 months in 100% French oak barriques and puncheons on fine lees. Our barrel program combines Allier & Troncais oak from Burgundian Coopers. 13% of the oak was new in 2009, 35% was second and third fills and the remaining barrels were completely neutral. During blending we refreshed the wine with 10% of 2010 Gamay from our cellar to add a boost of fresh ripe fruit. The wine was then cross flow filtered in order to gently focus the layers of the wine. We chose a natural cork closure of exceptional quality because we feel that the gradual exchange of oxygen that natural cork allows will enable this wine to improve for another 5-7 years and hold for at least 10.
TASTING NOTE
Pale garnet core with fresh, spicy aromas of strawberries and pink peppercorns. On the palate, vibrant flavours of anise, candied violet and white pepper move on to a persistent earthy, tamarind tangy finish.