2015 Massena The Howling Dog Saperavi

About The Wine

Saperavi can be a tricky beast to tame. It grows tiny berries with thick skins and red flesh which make thick, dark and tannic wines, generally with huge cellaring potential.

The trick is to maintain approachability with this variety, something the team at Massena have perfected over the last few vintages. This wine is gently caressed from the vine into bottle with the utmost care and skill.

Firstly, the fruit sits on skins for up to six weeks to allow the tannins to soften and integrate naturally. It then sees another six weeks in open fermenters as it undergoes a wild ferment in its own time. The final step is a gentle basket pressing before spending time in second and third use oak and being bottled without sulphur.

The result is a wine with power and elegance in spades. Impenetrable inky black in the glass, it is surprisingly enjoyable as a young wine, though will definitely reward the patient. Apparently, it was named after the little yelps that escaped the tasters mouths upon first encounters with barrel samples of this wine. 

About Massena

Part of the elite group of wineries in the ‘Artisans of the Barossa’ cellar door, Jaysen Collins’ label Massena is a force to be reckoned with.

After leaving their his day job at Turkey Flat Jaysen started his own brand in 2000 along with Dan Standish. Their mission was to produce wines that are in their own words “true to the Barossa style, being rich, warm and generous.”

Jaysen now flies the Massena plane solo. The wines have never looked better.