Philosophy
We look at ourselves as 'winegrowers' and our winemaking accentuates characteristics of the vineyard from vine to bottle. Therefore, we use more of a minimalist approach throughout the winemaking process, allowing the wines to 'make themselves'. This involves techniques such as limiting acid and sulphur additions, and no use of fining or filtration.
Following this philosophy, Hentley Farm produces exceptional wines that display 'Elegance', 'Subtlety', 'Richness' and 'Complexity'.
Our vineyard naturally produces wines with high pH and low acid, and contrary to some 'new world' wine producers, we choose to maintain the pH/acid balance through to bottle as we feel it is a major component of our site 'terroir'. This also has a positive influence on our wine style by adding to the softness of the mouth-feel that our wines exhibit. We choose not to 'fine' or 'filter' our premium wines because we again feel that the resulting loss in phenolic compounds detracts from our true expression of site (terroir).
Oak
We have chosen only to use French oak as this type of oak best suits our style in terms of providing great subtleties and complexity without overtaking the flavour and aromatic potential of our wines. Time on oak varies from eight months through to 24 months, and percent of new French oak used is anywhere from 10% through to 100%.
General techniques
Our 2006, 2007 and 2008 reds were all made in open tops with a combination of hand plunging and pump-overs, with time on skins varying from seven to ten days. All of our reds go through malolactic fermentation in oak adding to overall complexity, palate weight and softness.
