2022 'Le Bourbon' Rosé

'Le Bourbon' Rosé elegantly combines premium terroir, careful grape selection, and dedicated winemaking to create a gastronomic rosé with intense aromas of red cherry and strawberries and a touch of cinnamon spice. This dry, refreshing wine pairs perfectly with a variety of dishes such as salad Nicoise, paella, or grilled chicken, as well as rustic pâtés and charcuterie boards. Sourced from a 1998 vineyard in the Central Ranges GI of NSW, this wine has been aged for 12 months in tanks with oak staves and has a pH of 3.4 and TA of 7g/l. Best served at 10 degrees Celsius, this wine has cellaring potential up to 10 years.

‘Le Bourbon’ is named after the Commandant Beaurepaire rose which is of the Bourbon rose family. The rose takes its name from Colonel Nicolas-Joseph Beaurepaire. Nicolas was one of the first to be buried in the Pantheon in Paris as a hero of France for committing suicide rather than surrendering Verdun to the Prussians in 1792. 

Vineyard

Vintage Conditions: A relatively cool vintage with decent rainfall. Some early frosts reduced yields in early budburst varieties. The summer was relatively cool, with rainfall ensuring very active canopy management to mitigate disease risks. Another great year for acidity.

Harvest: Individually selected parcels of Cabernet and Merlot were harvested in March 2022. Sourced from vines with an average vine age of 24 years at the time of harvest.

Vinification

100% destemmed and delicately pressed with 4 hours maceration on skins before being fermented in steel tanks. Fined with Bentonite. Vegan Friendly.

Analysis: pH 3.4, TA 7g/l

Aging

Extended maturation in tanks with some oak staves for 12 months.

Tasting Notes

The Palate is dry and fresh with crisp acidity and cherry flavours. The Bouquet is rose petal, strawberry with a hint of dark cherry

Wine and Food Matching

It is a perfect combination with salad Nicoise, paella or grilled chicken, fish or lamb with herbs. Similarly, it is very enjoyable with grilled fish, rustic pâtés and terrines, charcuterie boards and sheep’s cheeses. Loves sushi and sashimi.

Wine Tips

Cellaring Potential: 10 years (2027)

Serving Temperature: 10 degrees C / 50 degrees F

Terroir

The vineyard is located above Rylstone in the Central Ranges GI of NSW (40km southeast of Mudgee, 70km northeast of Bathurst). It was planted in 1998 by Richard & Janet de Beaurepaire, with a mixture of Bordeaux, Rhône, and Burgundy varieties with the intention of selling most of the grapes whilst organically growing wine production. The decision to plant the vineyard at this location over other established winegrowing regions (including family winemaking operations in the Yarra Valley) was due to the similarity of the terroir to Burgundy – the home of the de Beaurepaire family.

The vineyard is in a mountain valley, 150 kilometres from the coast in the Great Dividing Range. It is planted on North facing slopes rising from the Cudgegong River to an altitude of 650m. Geologically, the vineyard is planted on an Ordovician-era (450 MY ago) coral reef with shallow sandy and sandy-loam soils on limestone. The limestone was mined nearby until recently by Kandos Cement.

The altitude, distance from ocean and poor heat retention of the soil and limestone, creates an inland continental climate as cool as Central Otago in New Zealand and Tasmania in Australia during the growing season with extreme diurnal variation – late Sept/Oct Budburst, Jan/Feb Veraison and March/April HHHarvest.