Alicanté
Forester Estate Alicanté
Tasting Notes
| Grape Variety | Alicanté Bouschet 95%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5% |
| Vintage | 2009 |
| Oak maturation | 100% of the wine is aged in second use French oak barriques for 17 months |
| Alcohol | 14.5% Alc/Vol |
| Release date | January 2011 |
| Peak drinking | Drinking very well upon release and we expect the strong primary fruit focus will diminish over two to three years, however an estimate of long term ageing potential would be premature given our limited experience with the wine style. |
| Food matches | Rustic style pizza, roast turkey with cranberry sauce or Venezuelan black chocolate tart have all proven excellent matches. |
| Colour | Inky purple depth with a vivid scarlet rim. |
| Aroma | This is a brooding wine that is concentrated and lifted showing fruit characters of plum and blackberry with choc mint, pepper and cedar. |
| Palate | A dense and lush palate that is loaded with dark fruits showing hints of spice and cedar. The tannin structure is fine and velvety with a long chocolaty finish. Serious and powerful. |
Awards & Achievements
2009 Alicanté
Silver Medal – Australian Small Winemakers Show 2010
Silver Medal – Qantas Wine Show 2010
2008 Alicanté
4 stars, Tony Love: Taste Magazine 2010
“The story:
Planted in France and spreading into Spain and Portugal,
most of us will only have seen this variety
in its popular Rockford version from the Barossa.
Forester has crafted a whole other big red style and it’s very good.
The flavour:
Dried fruits and citrus peel elements with big,
ripe blue to purple fruit with a little tough structural
love from 5% cabernet sauvignon.
Crying out for ragu or camembert.
Rating: 4 out of 5 – A cut above
Value: Worth the try
Verdict:Great potential
Winemaker Comments
Viticulture
Fruit is sourced from a small planting on the Touchwood vineyard on Wildwood Road in the northern Yallingup sub-region of Margaret River. Particular care is taken to control bunch numbers due to Alicanté’s tendency to throw naturally big crops. The 2009 vintage was again a very strong one for Margaret River with consistently mild to warm conditions delivering high quality Alicanté fruit which was hand picked on the 16th of March.
Winemaking
The small amount of fruit received was gently crushed and fermented in a one ton open fermentation vessel using a selected yeast strain. Hand plunging was carried out two to three times per day during a nine day skin contact period. The wine was pressed to a small stainless steel tank then to barrel where it completed its primary and malo-lactic ferment.
Storage / Bottling
After 17 months of ageing in the winery, the wine was blended and bottled in September 2010, once again receiving 5% Cabernet Sauvignon to help provide a longer finish. Bottled in a premium burgundy bottle using a screwcap closure. This closure will ensure the wine retains its youth and fruit integrity.