Ripe fruit, lifted floral characters and then a deliciously meaty savoriness on the nose and wood smoke; the palate is lifted, with blackberry fruit, minerality, touches of pimento, clove, sage and dark chocolate complex, with beautiful nuances and a long finish.
Venta La Ossa Syrah 2009 was crafted by the Mano a Mano winery in Castilla from the single varietal Syrah grapes which this winery cultivated themselves from their own special Syrah grapevines. These are old grapevines are situated in dry soils and this micro-climate receives very little rainfall. In the winters these grapevines are sometimes exposed to frost and in the summers there are scorching winds. The soils of this unique terroir are sandy and underneath a bed of gravel, iron, clay and limestone. These grapevines have small yields that do not exceed 4.5 pounds (2 kg) per grapevines. Despite the low yields these are very high quality grapes. After a selective harvest the grapes are transferred to the winery for an additional selection process at the Mano a Mano winery´s selection tables. The selected grapes are then temperature treated in chambers before they are destemmed and processed through a pre-fermentation cold maceration for 12 days. Subsequently, these grapes receive an alcoholic fermentation at temperatures between 68-77 ºF (20 and 25 ºC) for 16 days with smooth rotations being performed throughout this fermentation process. This wine was then transferred into French oak barrels from Allier where it received malolactic fermentation and was aged for 12 months. This wine was clarified with egg whites before being bottled. The Mano a Mano winery is well-known for its original labels, such as the one presented on this thick Bordeaux bottle and this wine has an all natural cork.