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Stonyridge Vineyard was conceived and operated with the sole intention of making world-class Bordeaux-style red wine. This classic Cabernet-dominant blend is named Larose as a tribute to the rose, the most aromatic, colourful, intense, and beautiful of all flowers.
The vineyard site was chosen specifically to produce this style of wine. The gentle north-facing slopes of the vineyard are sheltered from the cold southwesterly winds by the ridge which gives the vineyard its name. Summer temperatures regularly reach over 30°C with the highest temperature being 36°C. Combined with north-facing rows and excellent viticulture, the grapes achieve perfect ripeness in normal years.
Typical yields at Stonyridge are as low as 20 hectoliters/hectare (2 tonnes/acre). The grapes are hand-picked and immediately taken to the winery, where they are crushed, de-stemmed, and pumped into stainless-steel fermentation tanks. A warm fermentation is followed by a two-week maceration before being basket-pressed.
Malolactic fermentation is completed in barrel in the warmed chai (barrel cellar). The wine is 100% oak-aged in French and American barriques for over a year, racked regularly, rarely fined, and never filtered. |
