Channing Daughters Sculpture Garden Technical Info
This is the third year that our Sculpture Garden is grown and produced as a true field blend. This beautiful ruby red wine consists of 91% Merlot, 6% Teroldego and 3% Blaufränkisch. All the varieties were grown together in our Sculpture Garden vineyard (the oldest on the South Fork, planted in 1982 & 1987), picked together and fermented together. All the fruit was hand-harvested, de-stemmed but not crushed, stomped on by foot and punched down by hand. The wine went through a natural malo-lactic fermentation and was raised in older French and Slovenian oak barrels for 24 months. The wine was handled minimally (only racked once) and was bottled by gravity with one coarse filtration. The wine may throw sediment over time and we would recommend decanting after several years in the bottle. While delicious now this wine will improve wonderfully for six to eight years and drink well for a decade plus. Our 2011 Sculpture Garden smells of sweet fruit and is awash in aromas and flavors of raspberry, black plum, red & black cherry and purple flowers in addition to some smoke and cinnamon notes. There is an underlying earthy minerality and touch of bacon and brown spice in this seductive and complex red wine. The wine is dry and retains a medium body, moderate alcohol and balanced acidity. The wine reflects the 2011 growing season with ripe fruit coupled with juicy acidity, medium body and youthful tension which beautifully expresses our maritime climate with its savory rather than sweet palate and elegance that is alluring. There is always a silky, smooth, supple quality to our Sculpture Garden and the great length is complemented by a textural, aromatic and flavor complexity, whose qualities truly improve with age! When feeling more formal pair this wine with Long Island duck, lamb chops or a prime rib roast and when you’re in a more casual mood match with pastas, burgers and grilled fatty fish. 328 cases made.