|
VINEYARD BLOCKS
Mostly from one block 7 yr old vines on 7 wire vertical trellis
with moveable foliage wires. Clones SH21A; SH1A & SH99
all on 101.14 rootstock. 5000 vines / hect. "Mont
Fleur" vineyard - high altitude Helderberg mountain
NW facing slope. Steeply sloping site with rocky, granitic
based Hutton soil. No irrigation necessary in 2002. Yield
5,5 tons / hect.
A small quantity of grapes from the neighbouring Keermont
vineyard included from a N.E. facing block. 4 yr old vines
on 5 wire vertical trellis, clone SH9 on 101.14 rootstock.
Soil deep red Hutton.
Yield 1 ton / hect.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
The growing season was particularly difficult, with early
season mildew problems, though our Shiraz vineyard escaped
with the least damage. 150 mm rain fell mid-January which
at first seemed disastrous, but probably due to the steep
slope and high run-off, didn’t seem to adversely affect
the ripening process.
Harvest date : 27 / 2 / 02 – 9 / 3 / 02 @ 25.4°
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. 32 deg. with the cap of skins
punched down manually 2 - 4 times a day for 11 days. Wine
drained directly to barrels together with single pressing
from traditional basket press.
All our red wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in the
barrel. This helps to integrate the new oak component and
fix colour and flavour compounds. 35% new French oak and 15
% new American oak was used.
Time in barrel 21 months with only a single racking.
This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered by hand.
Bottling date : 19 / 12 / 2003.
Production : 200 cases.
TASTING NOTES
Incredibly dark red colour. Intense blueberry and spicy white
pepper nose. Big mouthfilling palate with lots of fruit and
rich, ripe tannins. Long warm finish. Probably best between
2005 & 2010. Ideal with strong flavoured red meat, especially
local venison.
ANALYSIS
Alc. 15.5 SG. 1.7 TA 4.9
pH 3.8 VA 0.55 SO2 37 & 63
|
