The Howling Dog

Massena The Howling Dog began as an experiment, whose very first batches had the tasters almost howling at its pronounced tannins. Though the wine was refined, the name stuck.

The blend varies from year to year, either a mix of Petit Sirah, Tannat and Saperavi or one of these varieties on its own. The grapes are grown on the high side of Dadds Block on the outskirts of Nuriootpa in the Barossa.

The grapes are destemmed into open fermenters and receive sporadic pump overs across 10 days. Some parcels see extended maceration on skins for up to five weeks, integrating and softening the tannins.

After gentle basket pressing, each parcel is kept separate for maturation in second and third use French oak hogsheads. Blending occurs just prior to bottling.

Inky red, Massena The Howling Dog is full bodied and immensely flavoured with dark fruit notes, spicy oak and surprisingly supple tannins. Cellaring potential is 10 years.