The Wine

Although the Sangiovese vines were planted in 2003 it was not until 2008 that fruit was left on the vine and harvested. Delaying fruit production allows the vines to get established in the low vigour soils of St Andrews and ensures vines are mature enough to ripen fruit to the desired quality. Consequently in 2008, with the help of James Lance, we produced a wonderful first vintage of Sangiovese. The 2008 vintage was released in 2010; however we still have a small quantity of this wine available for purchase, please refer to the enquiries or ordering information pages.

2013 Vintage

In 2013 was the first vintage we decide to retain some of our Pinot Noir fruit for release under the Buttermans Track label.

2013 Pinot Noir

The 2013 Pinot Noir was harvested at 13.7 baume, 75% of the grapes were destemmed and the balance of 25% were left as whole bunches. Fermentation was allowed to take place naturally with indigenous yeast and hand plunged three times per day. The must was then pressed off the skins after 15 days and transferred into French oak barrels. Natural malolactic fermentation took place within the next 4 weeks and then the wine was matured in French oak barriques. This wine was bottled in February 2014 and we ended up with 99 cases of wonderful Pinot Noir.

2010 Vintage

In 2010 not only did we harvest the Sangiovese but we also opted to keep a small parcel of the Shiraz for release under the Buttermans Track label. Once again we enlisted the help of James Lance to produce the wine for us. Both the 2010 Sangiovese and the 2010 Shiraz are currently ageing in oak and will be ready for bottling in late 2011.

2010 Sangiovese

The wine making process adopted for the 2010 Sangiovese was very similar to the process used in 2009 with some minor tweaks. The fruit was hand harvested and sorted at 13.7 baume and 3.4pH. We had a slightly larger crop this year and should end up with approximately 105 cases of excellent Sangiovese.

2010 Shiraz

The 2010 Shiraz was harvested at 13.7 baume, crushed and destemmed and allowed to undergo a wild ferment. We also incorporated a percentage of whole bunches into the must to add complexity and character to the wine.  Once the primary fermentation was completed the wine was pressed and then inoculated with MLF bacteria to conduct the secondary fermentation. The secondary fermentation was carefully monitored and once complete the wine was racked and stored in a combination of new and old French oak barrels. The new French oak was 225 litre Tonnellerie d'Aquitaine barrels made from French oak sourced from the Troncais forest in the county of Allier in France. The oak from this forest is quite delicate and does not dominate the fruit characters of the wine and results in well integrated oak flavours.

2009 Vintage

In 2009 we once again harvested the Sangiovese but we also opted to keep a small parcel of the Shiraz for release under the Buttermans Track label. Once again we enlisted the help of James Lance to produce the wine for us.

2009 Sangiovese

The 2009 Sangiovese was harvested at 13.7 baume, crushed and destemmed and allowed to undergo a wild ferment. We believe that fermentation conducted with indigenous yeast provides another dimension to the wine and facilitates the development of the true character of the fruit. Since all of the fruit used to produce the Sangiovese is hand harvested and sorted this provides an ideal environment for initiation of fermentation with indigenous yeast. Once the primary fermentation was completed the wine was pressed and then inoculated with MLF bacteria to conduct the secondary fermentation. The secondary fermentation was carefully monitored and once complete the wine was racked and stored in fourth and fifth use French oak barrels. Oak influence is carefully managed so that it does not dominate the wine in the true style of a high quality Sangiovese.