Behind the Blend: Norton Locksley Reserve

This month has been a whirlwind of excitement, another round of bottling and more fantastic wines started off the month. As always, I won’t spoil the lineup, but this bottling was a lot of fun for the production crew. I can also proudly say the 2019 reds have officially been racked!  

Since we only have a short time before the July bottling,  we turn our attention to evaluating the red wines. After the racking process, we give the wine a few more weeks in barrel before tasting them again. As always, we assess wines for quality and profile.

While it’s much too early to bottle the 2019 Norton Locksley Reserve, Jason and I will begin working on candidate blends. The Norton Locksley Reserve is Chrysalis Vineyard’s flagship wine and requires very careful consideration of every component from the barrels used; to the exact percentage of Tannat, Petit Verdot, and Norton.

We use these components because Tannat is known to be extremely tannic and abrasive on the palate and requires proper aging in barrel, usually around 12-16 months just to smooth it out. Tannat also ages well in the bottle, softening up and becoming more approachable as time passes. Our Petit Verdot provides good tannin structure with desirable plum and violet aromatics, making it a perfect blender to elevate bold red wines. Norton provides the perfect amount of lush fruit and beautiful color. With the proper amount of new French oak and careful consideration of tannin, acid, and structure, we are able to produce a wine perfect for bottle aging, while showcasing what Norton is really capable of!