2023 Benedek - Kekfrankos Matra (750ml)

The Irouleguy Rouge “Ohitza” cuvée is typically made from 50% Tannat and 50% Cabernet Franc. The parcels are from sandstone soils at mid-elevation. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel with a maceration of around seventeen days. The wine is aged 70% in barrels of 3/4/5 years and 30% in cement tanks. Every three months the wine is racked and assembled and then redivided among the barrels and tanks. After a year, a final assemblage is made which then continues to mature in barrel and tank until bottling in June, eighteen months after harvest. Ohitza is the basque word for tradition.

“Lo Sang del Pais” translates as “the blood of the countryside” and one can easily feel the life-force of this wine. The grape bunches are hand harvested and after being de-stemmed they are fed into fermentation tanks using gravity flow. The “cuvaison” lasts 21 days with the juice being pumped over the cap during the first 6 days. The wine is aged for 6 months in large oak and chestnut barrels which range in age up to 200 years old. The wine has a bright violet color and aromas of wild red fruit and pepper which follow through on the palate with freshness and vibrancy.

100% Mansois (Fer Servadou)