Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Seventeen Days - Day Six

On the sixth day of the Olympics, we raise a glass, in honour of our athletes, of Marynissen Estates 2007 Bottoms Up. This wine has a very interesting story to tell which I hope you will enjoy. From Jeff Hundtermark – winemaker at Marynissen Estates - In 2007, our lees filter unceremoniously gave up and is now non-functioning. The decision was made to place all the Lees from the bottom of each tank (all 7 varieties) into one tank and allow the lees to settle the old fashioned way... by gravity. This procedure took approximately 5 months and a further 4 rackings until we were able to recover as much as we could. The bonus, as we found out, was that the wine being in contact with the lees for that period of time provided intense fruit concentration, integrated tannin structure, and the deepest of colour. The serendipitous part of this story is when we decided to taste the wine before using it to top up barrels; we discovered just how special the wine was. We immediately ordered new American Oak barrels and aged the wine for a further 8 months. So, what Olympic sports do we have to enjoy this delectable wine with? Rounds two and three of curling (both Men’s and Women’s), more skiing, more hockey (Canadian Women are playing), medal events in Cross Country skiing, speed skating and luge, as well as a complete day of Men’s Halfpipe for the Snowboarders. This wine is available at the winery directly so contact them at 905-468-7270 or by email at info@marynissen.com to place your order today.

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