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VINEYARD BLOCKS
1 block 8 year old vines on 4 wire vertical trellis. Clone
MO192 on 101-14 rootstock. Western low lying slope of Helderberg
mountain. Soil poor gravelly clay mixture. No irrigation necessary
in 1996. Yield
7 tons / hect.
2nd block 8 year old vines on 5 wire vertical trellis. Clone
MO192 on R99 rootstock. 'Mont Fleur' vineyard - high altitude
slope on eastern side of Helderberg mountain. Soil red Hutton
type. No irrigation. Yield 6 tons / hect.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
A fairly difficult vintage with above average rain during
the growing period. The ripening stage was generally cool
with some nail biting scattered rain. It required nerve to
wait for full ripeness before picking. The fruit was picked
in good healthy condition with nice ripe tannins.
Harvest date: 18/2/96 - 29/2/96.
PRODUCTION
100 % destemming by hand and gentle crushing directly into
various stainless steel fermentation tanks. Most tanks received
a light sulphur addition. Spontaneous natural yeast fermentation
followed a 3 day cold soak period. Fermentation temp. rose
to 30 degrees and cap punched down 3 times a day. Total time
on skins approx. 14 days. Wine drained directly to barrels.
Single pressing from small traditional basket press included.
All wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in the barrel.
This helps integrate the new oak component and fix colour
and flavour compounds. 30% new French oak and 5 % new American
oak was used from the high quality 'Taransaud' and ' Demptos'
cooperages. Time in barrel 17 months, which included several
rackings to gradually clarify the wine and assist maturation
development.
This wine was lightly fined with egg whites ( 2 eggs per barrel
), before bottling unfiltered by hand on the property. Bottling
date : 18 / 8 / 97.
TASTING NOTES
Plum colored. Attractive cherry, plum, blackberry nose with
wafts of vanilla and other spices. Good body with fruit persisting
and soft tannin core. Nice length. Probably best
between 1998 and 2004. The rich / sweet fruit combines well
with dryier ( grills and roasts ) red and white meat dishes.
ANALYSIS
Alc. 13.32 Sug. 1.7 TA 5.4 pH 3.57 VA 0.53 SO2 27 & 58
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