Stonegarden Mr. Randall Fortified Muscat Field Blend No. 1

Tasting Notes

High in the windswept ridges of Eden Valley, where frosts bite early and the light is sharp and clean, we harvested White Frontignac and 12 other grape varieties all planted randomly throughout the block.  The  fruit was picked and blended together in the vineyard with an abundant natural acidity and piercing aromatics. White Frontignac is used to make many different wines styles from bone dry to sweet and everything in-between.

But we had something different in mind. Rather than ferment and bottle it young, we harvested it as a field blend—whole rows picked together, a snapshot of the vineyard as it stood that vintage. Then, in the spirit of old-world tradition we fortified the wine and laid it to rest in old bourbon barrels tucked away deeply in the furthest reaches of our stone winery.

There it stayed, undisturbed, for ten long winters and summers. Over a decade, those barrels quietly transformed the wine, deepening the colour, layering in notes of caramelised orange peel, dried apricot, toasted almond and vanilla bean. The bourbon casks lent warmth and spice, while focusing the aromatic White  Frontignac fruit. The cold Eden nights have preserved the wine’s natural brightness and structure.

The result is a fortified unlike any other. Lifted, golden, complex—with both the freshness of the Eden Valley and the depth of years in barrel. Bottled only after a decade. Never to be rushed. - Winery Note.