H&H 10 Year Old Sercial

Medium amber in colour, this is a dry wine with a clean aroma, demonstrating the wines evolution. Reminiscent of brown spices, nuts and citrus peel on the nose. The slightly smoky aroma with walnuts, apricots and vanilla transfers onto the palate with mild acidity and an extraordinarily long finish.

The Sercial vines are planted in terraces on the high and steep slopes at Jardim da Serra and in the northern side of the island, at Porto Moniz, Ponta Delgada and Seixal. Traditionally, the training of the vines is in “pergolas” or trellises (known as “latadas”) however, in some new vineyards the training in “espalier” was employed with success, allowing the plant to catch more sunshine and breathe much better. H&H 10 year old Sercial is a blend of wines based at the minimum of its age category.

At arrival, the grapes are weighed and controlled in terms of healthiness and ripeness being checked the mandatory minimum potential alcohol degree. There-after they are unloaded into a reception hopper fitted with a continuous screw system that carries the grapes to the crusher/de-stemmer. The crushing process breaks the grape skins releasing the must from the pulp. Part of the wine produced is subject to maceration in order to provoke the maximum extraction. Another part of the wine-must is subject to a fermentation separated from the stalks and skins, and this is usually done by placing the grapes directly into the horizontal continuous press and the juice goes straight into the fermentation vats. Static decantation occurs and it ferments to the desired residual sugar level before being stopped by adding the alcohol.

Ageing is in old oak casks filled up to the top.