sOAKin
PATENTED INNOVATION
To each sOAKin bottle, we added a stick of specially prepared
French barrel oak, before filling with wine.
(Bottled August, 2001)
The 1998 Windy Ridge sOAKin Pinot Noir contains a piece of oak 5cm x 1cm x 1cm.
The 1998 Windy Ridge sOAKin Cabernet Sauvignon & Malbec
contains a piece of oak 6cm x 1cm x 1cm.
Our trials suggest that these quantities of French oak will progressively render the wines 'very oaky' through 2002. Thereafter, we expect the oak flavours and tannic grip to slowly soften and integrate, producing wines of greater complexity than our regular 1998 red wines.
WHY ADD MORE OAK TO WINES ALREADY AGED THREE YEARS IN OAK ???
1. For those who prefer stronger oak flavours and grippy tannin,
drink our sOAKin wines in 2002 or 2003.
2. For those who wish to further understand the effects of oak in wines,
compare our sOAKin wine with our regular wine any time in the next five to ten years.
3. For those with patience, we expect the sOAKin wines to show greater fullness
and complexity between 2005 and 2010.
4. Why not ???
We will maintain a sOAKin owners' email list.
We encourage sOAKin owners to email us tasting notes so we can maintain a progressive file on this page, and email notes as the wines develop to those on the email list.
sOAKin progressive tasting notes
1998 Windy Ridge sOAKin
Cabernet
Sauvignon & Malbec ......
WOW !!
Colour:
Dark brick-red. Nose:
Strong French oak with undertones of cabernet fruit.
Palate:
Sweet black-currant middle palate (all over the tongue) ... finishing
with fruit and strong oak flavours.
Very long fruit & oak finish. Firm (but not overpowering) grip on the
cheeks.
1998 Windy Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon
& Malbec.
Colour:
Dark brick-red. Nose: Nutty,
dusty, black-currant fruit.
Palate:
Black-currant middle palate... finishing with rich fruit and some sappy oak flavours.
Long fruit & oak finish. Gentle grip on the
cheeks.
November 25, 2001 ... Andrew,
Sydney.
Wine: 1998 Cab Sauv Malbec sOAKin
technology ... Couldn't
resist trying one
The wine:
Colour:
Deep red; touch of brick red
Nose:
Restrained
Taste:
Intense flavour and strong tannins, but yet to integrate
Hint of liquorice or chocolate flavour
Slight alcoholic sharpness on palate
Impression
Still a babe. Will try another in a year
The wood:
Well squared edges with good sharp edges ... ends nicely squared off
Wood not impregnated with wine colour yet, but some purple colouration along
grain
April
14, 2002 ... Graeme & Georgia Wilson.
1998 Windy Ridge sOAKin
Pinot
Noir
Colour:
Light~medium brick-red.
Nose:
Gentle French oak with obvious Pinot cherry fruit.
Palate:
Complex dark-cherry flavours; full balanced, silky-oak finish. Will reward
patient cellaring.
1998 Windy Ridge Pinot Noir.
Colour:
Medium brick-red.
Nose:
Pinot cherry fruit with subtle oak under-tones.
Palate: Complex dark-cherry flavours with subtle oak on the finish. Will reward
patient cellaring.
November 2002 ... Andrew J.
We had a Conventional Pinot 1998
vs. Soakin last week at Fish Creek with some friends, two pretty
sophisticated wine drinkers, the other two happy imbibers. The wine was
opened an hour before we tucked into some rather nice BBQd duck.
Basically we all thought the Soakin was too oakey. The oak just overwhelmed
the pinot. Half size wood chip needed? Not that it was unpleasant and the
standard pinot was very pleasant and I think better than the '97.
We didn't finish all the pinot for various reasons and two days later L. and
I tried it again and the sOAKin oak had softened quite dramatically and was
much more palatable. Both wines were starting to be a bit tired though.
Well try another pair of bottles next year. What's your experience been? I
am wondering about taking out the peg from some of the Soakins and recorking
to see what happens. I guess I would have to decant, get the peg out and
repour and recork.
[HOME] [WINES] [ORDER] [DATES] [GALLERIES] [HISTORY] [MAIL-LIST] [ASK-US]