Vineyard Blocks

Approximately ⅔ from one block 12 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.

Yield 5.5 tons / hect. (33hℓ/ha)

About ⅓ from our new “Tip Top Mont Fleur” vineyard planted immediately above the existing Shiraz vineyard in 2003.  Soil and aspect similar, though a little steeper and stonier. Clones SH470 (sourced from Cote Rotie); SH174 (sourced from Hermitage) and SH747 all on 101-14 (low vigour) rootstock. Trellis system and planting density as older vineyard above.

Yield 3 tons / hect. (18hℓ/ha)

Lightly irrigated after veraison to avoid excessive stress during the critical ripening stage.

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Vintage Conditions

Typical cold, wet winter followed by a normal growing season with enough rain and warm weather to produce good, balanced growth.  The Shiraz seemed to relish the knife-edge harvest conditions with small heat waves alternating with short, wet, cold spells.  It seemed to bring out a spiciness and elegance unique to the vintage. 

Harvest date: 16 / 2 / 07 - 1 / 3 / 07 @ 24.4 - 25° Balling.

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Production

Handpicking into 20 kg crates. Destemming and gentle crushing directly into small 2 ton open top fermentation tanks. Spontaneous natural yeast fermentation @ max. 30°C with the cap of skins punched down manually 1 - 4 times a day for 13 days. Wine drained directly to barrels together with single pressing from traditional basket press.

All our red wines undergo malolactic fermentation in the barrel. 50% new French oak was used.

Time in barrel 20 months with only 2 gentle rackings.

This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered by hand.

Bottling date : 16 / 12 / 2008.

Production : 354 x 12 x 750ml

58 x 1.5L

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Tasting Notes

Deep bright red colour. Intense, but elegant wild and red berry fruit with complex spice and white pepper nuances – all very persistent. Lovely purity of fruit on the palate, despite the range of interesting secondary flavours – incl. spice, pepper and subtle oak. Fine, dry and persistent finish.  Probably best between 2010 & 2020. A pity to spoil this wine with food! Perhaps best with plainer food like roast chicken, potatoes or butternut to highlight the wines underlying subtleties?

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Analysis

Alc.  15.16           SG.  1.6          TA  4.7           pH  3.65            VA  0.43            SO2  24free 60total