Michael Shaps Tannat 2019

Tannat is fast becoming one of our more reliable red varieties because it consistently ripens to ideal maturity, producing a heavily extracted, yet balanced wine. Traditionally grown in the Madiran region of southwestern France, this variety is known there to be higher in acidity and tannins, but in central Virginia our hot climate and soils provide us with a much more balanced varietal composition. Due to tannat’s naturally high tannins, we barrel age this wine for 18 months to help the wine evolve and integrate prior to bottling. Our tannat tends to be our biggest red variety and we believe that aging this wine for 7-10 years will deepen the expressions of the wine through beautiful fruit and earth notes.