in the vineyard : In 1927 Muratie was the first estate in South Africa to plant Pinot Noir. The owner of the farm, George Paul Canitz, and Professor Perold experimented with Pinot Noir on Muratie. Hence George Paul Canitz’s famous quote: ‘Muratie Burgundy is a tonic’ and ‘Muratie Burgundy is bottled sunshine’.
The Pinot Noir vines are planted at 300m above sea level on North West facing slopes. The Table Mountain sandstone soil is rich in its moisture retaining potential, hence the dry land vineyards. The vines are a combination of 113 and 115 clones, grafted on Richter 110 and planted in 1991. Perold trellising system is being used.
in the cellar : The grapes were crushed and destalked after close scrutiny at the sorting table. The wine was made in traditional Burgundian open fermenters, where manual pump-overs and plunging were done on a regular basis. Malolactic fermentation was done in French oak (25% new oak), after which it was aged for 12 months.