Churchview Estate The Bartondale “Spike” Cabernet Sauvignon

Description

Churchview Estate The Bartondale “Spike” Cabernet Sauvignon is a very limited release wine. It is made from the two very best barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon that the estate produces blended with a little Malbec.a

Churchview Estate is an award-winning, family-owned wine producer located in the Margaret River wine-growing region of Western Australia. The estate was founded in 1999 by father and son team Spike and Raymond Fokkema and is situated near the locality of Metricup just off the Bussell Highway. Spike had emigrated from The Netherlands in the 1950s and had been a successful businessman prior to purchase. Today  the estate is owned and run by Raymond Fokkema and his sister Sharon Bosveld (who joined the family business over 20 years ago). The winemaker is David Longden. Churchview Estate was awarded with a 5 star winery rating in James Halliday’s 2016 and 2020 classifications.

The estate takes it name from the view of the heritage listed Anglican Church of Saint John the Baptist which can be seen from the estate. The single vineyard estate comprises some 100 hectares with 56 hectares of vines. The site was carefully selected for its maritime climate, ideal and fertile gravelly loam soils, ample clean water and north facing slopes and 16 different grapes varieties are grown. Organic certification was awarded in 2020.

Churchview Estate estate produces several different ranges of wine, the flagship wines are the limited release, handcrafted Bartondale range, which is named after the dairy farm that was originally on the site. There follows the St Johns range, made from more unusual grape varieties, which is named after aforementioned, neighbouring church. There is also the fruit driven Silverleaf range.

The grapes for the Churchview Estate The Bartondale “Spike” Cabernet Sauvignon are sourced from Churchview’s oldest block of organically grown Cabernet Sauvignon. After harvest, the fruit is gently transferred into a static red fermentation vessel, along with a Bordeaux yeast isolate, ready for fermentation. The fruit is left for 24-48 hours for a short, cold maceration before we begin pump overs, and if required some manual juice drain off. The pump overs are conducted twice a day for 14 days, then only once a day for 14 days. At the completion of the 28 days, the red must is tasted daily and then pressed into a stainless steel vessel for malolactic fermentation to occur. All the new French oak barriques are filled at this stage for malolactic fermentation to occur in oak. This batch is kept separate from the stainless portion for the whole maturation period. At the completion of malolactic fermentation, the remaining wine is transferred into 1-2 year old French oak barriques for a 16 month maturation. After 4 months, the barrels are assessed for quality, and initial barrel selection is made for the first rack and return. At the completion of the 16 months, the barrels are then assessed for quality, and rated A, B or C, with A generally being used for The Bartondale. The two BEST barrels from The Bartondale selection were set aside for maturation for an additional 6 months on oak.

Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.