2005 – WS 94; Platter 5 stars; 2006 – WS 93; Platter 5 stars

2007 – WS 95; Platter 4½ stars; 2008 – WS 93; Platter Red Wine of the Year

2009 WS95; Platter 4½ stars

2010: Decanter Gold & Regional Trophy

 

Vineyard Blocks

About ½ from one block 15 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 (393 metres) Helderberg mountain NW facing slope.

Steeply sloping terraced site with rocky, granitic based Hutton soil.

Yield 3 tons / hect. (22hℓ/ha)

About ½ from our new “Tip Top Mont Fleur” vineyard planted in 2003 immediately above the existing Shiraz vineyard.  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 4 tons / hect. (29hℓ/ha)

 

Vintage Conditions

A cool, overcast, rainy spring led to poor fruit set and smaller, looser bunches. Very strong winds during flowering dramatically reduced the size of the crop as well as causing some physical damage. The small crop contributed to faster ripening with very ripe grapes of great intensity. A hot, dry harvest, but all of our Syrah was picked before the mid-March heat wave.

 

Harvest date: 18 / 2 / 10 - 2 / 3 / 10 @ 24.4°- 25.5° Balling.

 

Production

Handpicking into 20 kg crates. Destemming and gentle crushing directly into small 2 ton open top fermentation tanks. Spontaneous natural yeast fermentation @ max. 31°C with the cap of skins punched down manually 1 - 4 times a day for 14 days. Wine drained directly to barrels together with single pressing from traditional basket press.

Malolactic fermentation in the barrel. 50% new fine grained, slow toasted small French oak was used.

Time in barrel 22 months with only 2 gentle rackings.

This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered by hand.

Bottling date: 26 / 01 / 2012

Production : 290 x 12 x 750ml; 28 x 12 x 375ml

 

Tasting Notes

Deep, dark red colour. Big, rich blue / blackberry nose with cedary notes. Great intensity and complexity. Rich, ripe dark fruit and pepper and spice palate. Big, mouthfilling tannins. Slightly sweet fruit comes out as the wine opens up.  Drink 2015 to 2022. Best with a thick chunk of steak on the braai.

 

Analysis

Alc.  15.72           SG.  3.9           TA  5.6            pH  3.56            VA  0.66            SO2  8free 34total