Nate Wall's Winemaker Notes

Troon’s Druid’s Red reflects the diversity of our organic and Biodynamic estate vineyard, planted to twenty different grape varieties native to the Rhône Valley and portions of South and Southwest France. These grapes were all grown with the intention of blending, allowing their textures and flavor profiles to overlap and interweave to create wines that are much more than the sum of their parts. The precise blend composition varies yearly, reflecting each year’s unique vintage.

The 2023 Druid’s Red is composed of 30% syrah, 27% grenache, 20% cinsault, 19% mourvèdre, and 4% carignan. We have multiple clones of these varieties planted in various locations throughout our vineyard, leading to intriguing differences in flavor and aroma profiles and a more staggered harvest schedule. This staggered schedule allowed us to co-ferment several of these varieties, resulting in additional complexity and nuance in the wine.

Fruit for the 2023 Druid’s Red was picked from September 15th (our early-ripening 470 clone of syrah) through October 18th, 2023 (later-ripening carignan), with many picks in between. Several of the lots were fermented with a percentage of their stems intact (whole cluster), and for the first time in 2023, we were able to use some new concrete fermenters, such that 25% of this blend was fermented and aged in concrete.

As with all wines from Troon, no additives, acid or sugar adjustments, enzymes, or sulfur additions are used at crush. Primary fermentation occurs spontaneously with indigenous/native yeasts and bacteria in open-top bins or vats outside (and now in concrete tanks as well!). The wine is handled gently during fermentation with just one punch-down or foot-treading per day for roughly three to four weeks. The wine is then pressed off to age in neutral French oak barrels or concrete for approximately ten months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered, with a small dose of sulfur added at bottling.

30% syrah, 27% grenache, 20% cinsault, 19% mourvèdre, and 4% carignan

Nutritional and technical information