Nose
It possesses clean, piercing flavors and aromas of apples, lemon curd, pears, just-baked brioche, pineapple, brown baking spices and salty minerals.
Palate
The wine is delicious, elegant, satisfying, juicy, wild and complex! The wine is dry, medium-bodied, has balanced acidity, moderate alcohol...and a long, complex, persistent finish.
The aromas and flavors are fairly intense and long-lasting yet there is restraint, elegance and finesse enrobed in the rich, barrel-fermented style.
Harvest
Hand-harvested from our Brick Kiln and Sculpture Garden vineyards here in Bridgehampton.
Winemaking
The grapes are gently whole cluster-pressed, the juice settled overnight and then all new French oak barrels are filled to the top. The ambient/wild/spontaneous yeast kick in and the wine ferments. The secondary malo-lactic fermentation also happens spontaneously and we leave the wine on its lees with no topping until blending and bottling.
Aging
This release, our 2017 L'Enfant Sauvage, spent 14 months in barrel!
Appearance
The 2017 L'Enfant Sauvage is a beautiful clear gold color.
Food Pairing
One of the very rewarding aspects of L'Enfant is how approachable it is in its youth yet it really is a wine meant for 8-12 years of aging in bottle. It is thrilling to see the wine develop beautifully and still offer remarkable freshness, aliveness and potential for further development at six or eight or ten years of age. L'Enfant is always a great match for lobster, scallops, truffles, roast chicken, goose, wild salmon, arctic char and mushroom dishes.
