Asara Shiraz 2003

A deep ruby red with black and purple colour hints towards an intense flavour profile in this Shiraz. Cherry and blackberry fruit aromas complement the spicy wood flavours extracted from gentle maturation in French and American oak. Notice how the hints of cigar box smokiness combine with earthy, organic nuances.

variety : Shiraz [ Shiraz ]

winery : Asara Wine Estate and Hotel

winemaker : Jan van Rooyen

wine of origin : Stellenbosch

analysis : alc : 13.5 % vol rs : 3.9 g/l pH : 3.48 ta : 6.5 g/l

type : Red body : Medium taste : Fruity wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

AWARDS

2007 Swiss International Air Lines Wine Awards – Gold Award
Veritas 2006 - Bronze
A note from Peter Veldsman (Emily’s Restaurant):
'slight hints of tobacco on the nose, combined with savoury acid and ripe tannins; on the taste a bit of berry fruit, but thankfully not driven by it, rather smoky, sun-dried fruit; a well made wine, lingering on the palate, very food friendly'.

ageing : If cellared correctly, this wine can be kept until the end of 2011.

in the vineyard : It is with 'great expectations' that we present you this wine, our third vintage of Shiraz from a single vineyard on the Estate. As I have said earlier, we are preparing for a great future in this expressive grape variety. This time we made use of wooden open fermenters specially imported from France.

Our viticulturist has selected some excellent sites for Shiraz plantings on the lower and middle parts of the Estate. The vision for Asara Shiraz is to create a wine that expresses our vineyards in a timeless style of its own by using traditional and modern methods of winemaking.

Viticulture & Harvest
Age of vines: Six years
Soil type: Tukulu yellow brown gravel
Clone and rootstock: Sh1A / Richter 99 and Sh1A / Mgt 101-14
Aspect: West south west 140-170 m above sea level
Trellising: Extended double Perold
Plant spacing: 2.7m by 1.2m

about the harvest: The key to making great Shiraz is low yield and harvesting at the right time. Due to the good rainfall during the winter preceding harvest and moderate temperatures during the ripening season, the condition of the grapes was excellent for quality wine. We picked the Shiraz at 24.5º Balling, which gave us good flavour retention and soft, ripe tannins. Healthy bunches were crushed and sent to the wooden fermenters.

in the cellar : A 48 hour long cold soaking of the crushed grapes preceded fermentation. We selected a South African yeast strain that enhances the varietal character of Shiraz and kept the fermentation temperature around 25ºC. Following malolactic fermentation, the wine was transferred to a special selection of oak barrels: 25% first fill (with equal proportions of French and American oak), 25% second fill and 50% third fill French barrels. After 31 months of maturation, the wine was racked from the barrels into a tank and bulk filtered before bottling.

Estate bottled on 22 December 2004 .
The production was 8,500 x 750 ml bottles and 1,000 x 375 ml bottles.

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