Cookoothama Darlington Point Basket Press Merlot 2004

NOTES

Nugan Estate second tier wines, Cookoothama; is made from estate grown fruit from the family’s vineyards in the King Valley and Darlington Point. Cookoothama “cooka-a-tharma” is the name of the family’s vineyard at Darlington Point on the Murrumbidgee River and is the aboriginal word meaning ‘fertile land’. The two hands on the label represent the people who have lived and cultivated the land spread along the banks of the Murrumbidgee River transforming it into the prosperous land it is today.

TASTING NOTES

The Merlot for this limited release is sourced from our Cookoothama Vineyard on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River at Darlington Point in the Riverina. This wine is very special because it is hand crafted by the wine-maker’s feet. Literally.

The Basket Press Merlot is our Winemaker’s baby, who insists on making this wine using the traditional French method of treading the grapes by foot – otherwise known as the “pigeage” method.  The theory is that human feet cannot crush a seed thereby ensuring a wine with softer tannins. This hands-on process begins at source with all the fruit being hand-picked, then separated into small one tonne bins, yeast added and the cap plunged 2-3 times each day by using the pigeage method. The wine is then basket-pressed to retain softness and transferred to new and one year old French oak for 24 months maturation prior to bottling.  The result is a foot-stomping benchmark example of varietal Merlot.

Dense ruby red with a youthful crimson hue. Lifted aromas of ripe plum and cherry over earth and allspice.  Elegant palate of ripe berry fruit with hints of earth and dark chocolate supported by well-integrated French oak and velvety tannins leading into a long, lingering finish.