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VINEYARD BLOCKS
1 block 12 year old vines on 4 wire vertical trellis. Clone
CS 46A on 101-14 rootstock. Soil gravelly red Hutton type.
On low lying Helderberg mountain site. Yield 9
tons / hect.
2nd block 6 year old vines on 6 wire vertical trellis. Mix
of "new clones" on 101-14 rootstock. Mont Fleur
vineyard. - high altitude mountain slope. Soil deep red Hutton.
Yield 6 tons / hect. Both vineyards
lightly irrigated after varaison. 6% merlot and 5% Roobernet
incl.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
A dry, hot summer. The ripening period was hot and dry. The
harvest was early with ripe, healthy grapes producing big
wines with high alcohols.
Harvest date: 24 / 2 / 00 - 7 / 3 / 00 @ 25.3 - 26.5°
balling.
PRODUCTION
100% destemming and crushing by hand directly into 2 ton open
top fermentation tanks. Spontaneous natural
yeast fermentation @ 32ºC with the cap of skins
punched down 2 - 5 times a day for 9 to 16 days. Wine drained
directly to barrels together with single pressing from traditional
basket press. All wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in
the barrel. 35% new French oak and 5%
new American oak was used from the high quality coopers.
Time in barrels 22 months, which
included several rackings to gradually clarify the wine and
assist maturation. This wine was lightly fined with egg whites
(3 eggs per barrel ), before bottling unfiltered
by hand on the property.
Bottling date : 9 January 2002
Production : 945 cases.
TASTING NOTES
Deep, dark, brooding red colour.
Forthright cassis, plum and cedar nose. Evolves in the glass
to show more complexity and subtlety.
Intense fruit flavours and weight on the mid palate, which
follow through to a persistent finish. Dense, ripe tannins
suggest great ageing potential. Probably best between 2006
- 2012.
Enjoy with rich meat dishes.
ANALYSIS
Alc. 15% SG.1.8 TA 5.3 pH 3.70 VA 0.64 SO2 27 & 75
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