Winemaking
At Collaboration Wines our winemaking is traditional and minimalist. By appreciating the art of blending and understanding the role that oxygen and science play in winemaking we can continue our pursuit of crafting rich, complex and textural wines with no finings, minimal SO2 and minimal or no filtration.
White winemaking
Chardonnay is hand-picked in 1.5-2 tonne batches, chilled overnight and whole bunch pressed to new and older French oak barrels.
Hyper-oxidation or browning of the juice is encouraged in the pressings, this creates another dimension, texture and layer to the wine. Indigenous yeasts and malo lactic bacteria complete alcoholic and malo-lactic fermentation, ferments are long and slow.
As the wines evolve in barrel unsulphured on lees, regular battonage takes place. Each barrel is unique and dependant on taste the wines will individually be stirred and sulphured accordingly.
Finally after 11 months in barrel the resulting wines are blended and bottled unfined with a light filtration.
Red winemaking
Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are hand-picked in 0.5-1 tonne batches, chilled overnight and destemmed as 100% whole berries to 1 tonne open top fermenters.
Cold soaking at 8-10C of the whole berries for 4-5 days allows for a richer, rounder, softer mouth feel and elegant, vibrant aromatics.
Fermentation is long and slow with regular delestage to introduce oxygen, building texture and length to the palate. Ferments are peaked midway at 30C and completed on skins to dryness a total of 25-30 days dependant on extraction and taste.
The wines are then pressed to new and older French oak barrels where malo-lactic fermentation and barrel ageing takes place over the course of 18-22 months. As the wines evolve in barrel, aerative rackings and blending are introduced to encourage oxygen thus building layers of depth and interest.
Finally after 18-22 months in barrel the resulting wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
