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Geyer Wine Co.

2018

‘Sands’

Grenache   |   Barossa Valley - Australia
Shelf Talker Spec Sheet Wine Label Bottle Image

About

Gnarly, old Grenache vines with concentrated, low yields + the magic ‘Geyer touch’ of early picking & less is more winemaking makes for the emblematic take on Grenache. Dave adores the suppleness and fineness that Grenache can demonstrate from the ‘right’ sites in the Barossa. This Wiliamstown district, 90+-year-old vineyard defines that character. It is a 2.5 acre plot at 1,000 feet in elevation sloping down to a creek with silty and sandy soil sitting atop chunks of ironstone, bringing needed structure and mineral drive to the finished product. The vineyard has a few random plantings of Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvèdre that are co-fermented with the Grenache.

The fruit was picked in early March in primo condition with delicious berries with a fine line of acid splitting them. It was handpicked and fermented entirely whole-cluster in one-ton fermenters with a little bit of dry ice and the lid clamped down to minimize pre-ferment oxidization. Both primary and secondary fermentation carried out naturally and over a four month period. It was then pneumatically and foot pressed into neutral 500L French puncheons where the wine aged for 13 months. The ‘slurpy juice’, as Dave calls it, was then racked to tank and bottled without fining or filtration and just a small addition of sulfur.

Stats

  • Grapes: 97% Grenache - 3% Carignan/Cinsault/Mourvèdre
  • Vineyard: A single site in Williamstown
  • Vine Age: 95-years-old
  • Soil Type: Silty sand over ironstone
  • Viticulture: Practicing Organic
  • Fermentation: Native - stainless steel - 100% whole-cluster (carbonic)
  • Skin Contact: 4 months
  • Aging: 13 months in neutral 500L French puncheons
  • pH: 3.66
  • Total Acidity: 5.2 g/L
  • Total SO2: 19 ppm
  • Total Production: 166 cases

Tasting Note

Raspberry, earth and leather on the nose, with hints of dried spices and dried fruits. Aromatic and precise in the mouth, showing drive and salinity to the bright red fruit and earthy flavors. Finishes with structured but in essence light tannins and subtle lingering perfume.

Press & Reviews

Vinous

93

"Vivid red. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes fresh red berries, candied lavender, star anise and cinnamon. Juicy and sharply focused on the palate, offering sappy raspberry, cherry and spicecake flavors that deepen slowly through the back half. Fine-grained, well-knit tannins lend framework to a very long, lively finish that echoes the red fruit and floral notes."
- Josh Raynolds

The Wine Front

93

"Dave Geyer – farms nice fruit. Strong, big Chesty Bonds-esque man. We love him for it. From 90-year-old, dry grown vines,

Meaty, gamey, soft berry fruitiness, cherry notes, lick of balsamic tang. Mellow, supple, free form and free flowing feel, open weave, pretty but fleshy, not ripe in a sense, but just on the cusp of, herbal notes, cool acidity, earthiness. Geez, this does a lot. Fun. Fine. Good."
- Mike Bennie

Producer


Geyer Wine Co.

Region


Barossa Valley

Country


Australia

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