Forester Estate

Margaret River Jack Out The Box Fer 2020

Grape variety - 100% Fer
Oak maturation - 12 months - 56% new French and 44% 1 year old.
Colour - Deep red with purple hue.Aroma Rich and concentrated. A perfumed wine that’s loaded with dark fruits of mulberry and plum with pepper, lead pencil and cedar oak.
Palate - Rich with ample fine grain tannins. There are ripe fruits of plum and mulberry with graphite, damp earth and cedar oak. A rich, powerful and complex wine that will reward careful cellaring. Decanting recommended.
Food matches - Beef eye fillet, prosciutto wrapped venison with roasted vegetables.
Peak drinking - Drinking well upon release but has the potential to evolve and impress towards 2030.
Viticulture - Fruit to make the Fer was sourced from a premium vineyard in Margaret River. Close monitoring and analysis of these vines leads to shoot or bunch thinning by hand if required to obtain the perfect balance for good exposure and healthy ripening. A philosophy of minimal inputs in this premium block allows the unique combination of variety, soil type and microclimate to shine through and produce a parcel of fruit with true character. The 2020 vintage was warm and dry producing ripe flavour profiles and fine long tannin definition in the skins.
Winemaking - The fruit was harvested early in the morning and was crushed into a small open fermenter. The ferment was initially hand plunged four times a day for the first 3 days, then the frequency was slowly reduced for the following 3 days leading into draining and pressing off the skins. As Fer is a tannic variety, close attention needs to be paid to the level of extraction during the second half of fermentation on skins as well as during pressing of the skins. Press cuts are generally made early to avoid the extraction of undesirable tannins which can lead to a tough tannic wine. The wine was then matured in new and three year old French barriques for 10 months.
Storage and Bottling - The 2020 Fer was bottled in February of 2021 to super premium reverse taper claret glass with a stelvin closure. The wine was aged in bottle for two years prior to release. This wine is drinking exceptionally well now and with prudent storage should continue to show well towards 2030.