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A rare, one off bottling due to the exceptional quality of
this vintage.
VINEYARD BLOCK
A tiny 0.16 hectare block. Enough for just 2 - 3 barrels,
which are usually blended with the Merlot. Mont Fleur vineyard
- high altitude Helderberg mountain slope. 5 year old on 5
wire vertical trellis. Vine density 5000 vines / ha. Soil
deep red Hutton. Lightly irrigated to relieve stress a few
weeks before harvest. Yield 5.4 tons/ha.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
A dry, hot summer. The ripening period was hot and dry, but
thankfully not too many excessively hot days. The ripening
was surprisingly slow and even with ripe, healthy grapes producing
big wines with high alcohols.
Harvest date: 3 / 3 / 99 @ 25.2° balling.
PRODUCTION
Handpicking into 20kg lugboxes. Destemming and gentle crushing
directly into small
1 ton open top fermentation tank. Spontaneous natural yeast
fermentation @ max. 33ºC with the cap of skins punched
down manually 2 - 4 times a day for 9 days. Wine drained directly
to barrels together with single pressing from traditional
basket press.
All our red wine undergo malolactic fermentation in the barrel.
This helps to integrate the new oak component and fix colour
and flavour compounds. 30% new French oak and 70% second fill
French oak was used from the high quality 'Taransaud' and
'Demptos' cooperages. Time in barrel 16 months with a racking
approx. every 6 months. This wine was bottled unfined and
unfiltered by hand.
Bottling date : 20 / 7 / 2000. Production : 50 cases.
TASTING NOTES
Deep attractive ruby red colour. A nose that really sings
with individual fragrance including spices, dusty nuts, herbs
and bright raspberry fruit. The palate has an elegant richness
to it despite its high alcohol, surprising length and clean,
refreshing finish. Surely one of the most underrated varieties
at the moment. Drinking beautifully already, but will surely
keep for up to 10 years. Best with medium rich meat dishes,
poultry and pasta with creamy sauces.
ANALYSIS
Alc 14.54 SG. 2.1 TA 5.4
pH 3.61 VA 0.69 SO2 42 & 75
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