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VINEYARD BLOCKS
1 block 15 year old vines on 7 wire vertical trellis with
moveable foliage wires. Clone MO 192 on 101 - 14 rootstock.
On low lying Helderberg mountain site. Poor gravelly clay
soil.
Yield 5 tons / hect. (32hl/ha).
2nd block 9 year old vines on 7 wire vertical trellis with
moveable foliage wires. Mix of “new clones” on
R110 & R99 rootstocks. 'Mont Fleur' vineyard - high altitude
mountain slope. Soil deep red Hutton. Yield 6 tons / hect.
(39hl/ha).
3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon included.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
The growing and ripening period was near perfect. A light
irrigation at veraison ensured the grapes got through the
end of the warm, dry summer without too much stress. The wines
have intense fruit, excellent structure and great maturation
potential.
Harvest date : 8 / 2 / 03 – 12 /3 / 03 @ 23.5 –
25° balling.
PRODUCTION
Handpicking into 20 kg lugboxes. Destemming and gentle crushing
directly into small 2 ton open top fermentation tanks. Spontaneous
natural yeast fermentation @ max. 30 deg. with the cap of
skins punched down manually 2-3 times a day for 10 days. Wine
drained directly to barrels together with single pressing
from traditional basket press.
All our red wines undergo malolactic fermentation in the barrel.
35% new French oak and 5% new American oak was used from high
quality coopers. Time in barrel 21 months, which included
several rackings to gradually clarify the wine and assist
maturation.
The wine was bottled unfiltered by hand on the property.
Bottling date : 13/1/05. Production : 815 cases.
TASTING NOTES
Deep red colour. Dark cherry and plum nose with spices and
roasted oats complimenting. A big, intensely flavoured merlot
with a rich, mouthfilling palate and a classic long, firm
finish. Probably best between 2006 & 2013. Ideal with
strong flavoured grilled red meat.
ANALYSIS
Alc. 14.6 SG. 1.7 TA 5.9 pH
3.51 VA 0.54 SO2 25 & 65
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