Fortified Red Wine Essence

The merlot grapes arrived to the winery in the early morning hours after the nighttime hand harvest. After gentle destemming and crushing the grapes were transferred to a cooled stainless-steel tank to begin the alcohol fermentation process at a temperature of 28℃. During the fermentation varying pump-over regimes were performed to ensure optimal extraction of flavors, aromas and color from the grapes.
Upon fermenting to the desired final sugar concentration, the grapes were gently and slowly pressed and grape alcohol was added to the wine until a final alcohol of 15.8% was achieved. This traditional method of production enables the preservation of the natural sweetness from the grapes while halting any further fermentation. At this point the wine was transferred to used French and American oak barrels to age under the ambient atmosphere of the winery for a period of 15 months.