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VINEYARD BLOCKS
1 block 16 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 6 tons / hect. (39hl/ha).
2nd block 10 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 7 tons / hect.
(46hl/ha).
3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot included.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
The spring was cool and late with good, even budburst. We
had a few very hot days in early January, but generally the
ripening season was relatively cool and dry and nearly 2 weeks
later than usual. A light irrigation at veraison ensured the
grapes ripened without too much stress. An unusual phenomenon
in 2004 was the occurrence of some unripe berries within some
of the bunches, which we had to painstakingly remove prior
to crushing.
Harvest date : 21 / 2 / 04 – 18 /3 / 04 @ 23 –
24.6° 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 1-3 times a day for 11 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 was used from high quality coopers. Time
in barrel 19 months, which included several rackings to gradually
clarify the wine and assist maturation.
The wine was lightly fined (with 2 fresh egg whites per barrel)
and bottled unfiltered by hand on the property.
Bottling date : 18/10/05. Production : 870 cases.
TASTING NOTES
Deep true red colour. Bright red berry and cherry fruit with
beguiling subtle earthiness, nuts and spices. Youthful focused
fruit on the palate with plenty of fine tannins on the mid
palate and a classic long, dry finish.
Probably best between 2008 and 2014. Ideal with rich and creamy
pasta dishes and various meat dishes.
ANALYSIS
Alc. 14.47 SG. 2.0 TA 5.2 pH
3.57 VA 0.46 SO2 29 free 76 total |
