Sirius Rouge 2018

The product of a classic vintage, Sirius 2016 is a sustained garnet red with ruby and dark purple tints. Powerful from first sniff, it opens out to display a rich palate of red fruits, vanilla and spice with toasty notes. The meaty, beautifully round attack gives way to a superbly textured palate followed by an aftertaste which is just begging to unfold. The ripe tannins afford delicious balance and fine length without astringency to this blend. Drinking well from 2019, but can be laid down for several years. Without a doubt one of the flagship wines of the appellation.

Average age of vines 30 years. Traditional, but sustainable viticulture

The majority of the grapes are vinified in the traditional Bordeaux way. : the bunches are totally de-stemmed and the grapes fermented, in vat, at between 27 and 32°C to extract colour and tannins. There follows a period of vatting (15-21 days) to give the wines their characteristic Bordeaux structure and the potential to age well. To maximize the fruit,however, the remaining proportion of grapes undergoes carbonic maceration.

Once the different vats are blended, Sirius is aged in French oak barriques for 12 months.