Hamiltons Bluff Dolce Nero - "Sweet Black"

I LOVE that our Dolce Nero is something beautiful created out of adversity. Our cloud's silver lining. The terrible grape glut meant fruit that would normally be sold was left on the vines. Instead of leaving it to the birds, we got creative. As Carl Jung said ..."the creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity."

Here is the story of the birth of our unique Dolce Nero in Jamie's words...

"The 2006 ripening period at the end of vintage went on forever with no rain. We ripened a select parcel of Sangiovese to previously unheard of heights. Normally picked at about 14 Beaume (measure of sugar in the berry), we picked at 22! Fruit like that has never been grown in Australia before. No one has been able to get Sangiovese so ripe. The fruit was cold fermented on skins for six weeks before the ferment was stopped at 10% alcohol, leaving about 240g of residual sugar in the wine (a monster amount!). After a period of cold stabilisation the wine was filtered and bottled. It is not fortified and only 750 bottles were made."

Wine scribe Peter Bourne writes...

"This lush and plush passito-style dessert red has a rich, concentrated grapey bouquet of marinated prunes and liquorice allsorts. The palate is equally luxuriant though its Sangiovese heritage remains clearly defined. Perfect with Corella Pears marinated in red wine and served with Italian style rice pudding or a slither of classic Gorgonzola dolce."

 (updated March 2012)