N/V Hart
In Stock
Hart - a mature male deer or stag….a perfect name for our Port-style wine. It not only embraces our name but also sounds like heart, the centre of our being. A special wine that comes from the heart in the cellar of Stag’s Hollow. Enjoy with special friends. Flavours are reminiscent of Christmas cake, with dried cherry, raspberry jam, preserved Italian plums, baking spice and garrigue.
Wine Specs
Varietal
Merlot
Vineyard Designation
Multiple vineyards across vintages
Harvest Date
October annually
Acid
6.2
pH
3.65
Aging
10 (+) years
Bottling Date
June 2022
Residual Sugar
76
Alcohol %
20
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Hart - a mature male deer or stag….a perfect name for our Port-style wine. It not only embraces our name but also sounds like heart, the centre of our being. A special wine that comes from the heart in the cellar of Stag’s Hollow. Enjoy with special friends. Flavours are reminiscent of Christmas cake, with dried cherry, raspberry jam, preserved Italian plums, baking spice and garrigue.
Production Notes
Made entirely from exceptionally ripe Merlot that was hand harvested from several of our Merlot blocks across multiple vintages. The fruit was destemmed, left uncrushed and gravity transferred into shallow open top fermenters. During the entire maceration of the whole berry fruit, it was foot trodden 3 times daily in ordered to gently extract tannins and colour while avoiding astringency. Midway through the fermentation, barrel aged grape spirits were added to arrest the fermentation process and preserve the natural sugars in the wine. The free run wine was then drawn off, and the marc was basket pressed into older French oak barrels and allowed to mature for a minimum of at least 5 years in the cellar.
Winemaker Notes
While we’ve been making our coveted Hart for over a decade now, this is the first release of a special Non-Vintage Hart project that began in 2012. A small amount of our fortified Merlot has been added to a solera barreling program each year. Solera wines are created by fractional blending, so that the finished product ends up as a mixture of ages. The average age gradually increases as the process continues over the years. This first release of NV Hart contains wines that are now at least 10 years old.
Food Pairing Notes
Classic: dark chocolate, sour cherry pie, German chocolate cake, bread pudding, figs, walnuts, cigars.
Adventurous: blue cheese, sweet & smoky BBQ meats.
Other Notes
49 cases, 500ml bottles