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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Analysis

Alc.  15%               SG.1.8             TA  5.3              pH  3.70               VA  0.64              SO2  27 & 75