Rudera Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

The 2000 vintage of Rudera Cabernet Sauvignon scored 90+/100 in Robert Parker, Jr's 'The Wine Advocate' Issue 145 and 90/100 in Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Issue 107.

This was followed by a 91 for the 2001 Vintage in the Wine Spectator Weekly of 5 August 2004 and ****(*) in The Platter Guide 2005.

The Rudera Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 vintage scored 90 in February 2006 under ‘New Releases’ in Wine Spectator and was awarded ***** in The Platter Guide 2007.

ageing : 

Drinking well now if allowed time in the glass, but will reward, if properly cellared, for the next decade or more.

The fruit is from this ten year old vineyard on shale in Faure. The vineyard are trellised on a four-wire perold system. Drip irrigation is available to combine canopy management with stress management.

Handpicked grapes were brought in to the cellar late in February at 24,8º brix. The pH was 3.4, with a titratable acid of 7,9 g/l. Sorting was done in the vineyard followed by berry selection in the cellar before crush.
Our total production was 4,6 tons per hectare (33hl/ha) and only 185 x 6 x 750ml were made.

Sorting was done in the vineyard, followed by berry selection in the cellar before crush. The grapes were fermented with an inoculated yeast (WE372) and punched down three times per day. Fermentation was at 31ºC and lasted five days. Extended skin contact lasted a total of 18 days. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel. Only new French oak barrels were used, all Vicard Prestige barrels. The wine was racked using only gravitation. This was done for the first time after malolactic fermentation, and again three months later. The wine matured in new barriques for 23 months. The wine is unfiltered and received only an egg white fining before being bottled.