Simonsig Merindol Syrah 2003

Veritas 2005 - Silver Medal
International Wine Challenge 2006 - Seal of Approval
Veritas 2006 - Silver Medal

Deep Persian carpet red with almost black centre. Sweet complex layers of savoury aromas giving impressions of a spice bazaar. Sweet vanilla, mocha and cinnamon notes combine with crushed black pepper and fynbos to exhibit great complexity of flavour. Densely packed black berry fruit ad liquorice follow persistently through the mid palate to the lengthy finish. Impressively concentrated with well balanced tannins showing lots of promise to evolve beautifully with careful cellaring.


variety : Shiraz [ 100% Shiraz ]
winemaker : Johan Malan
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 14.7 % vol  rs : 2.5 g/l  pH : 3.5  ta : 5.7 g/l  
type : Red  style : Dry  body : Full   wooded
pack : Bottle  closure : Cork  

AWARDS
2001: Michelangelo Wine Awards 2003 - Double Gold, Swiss International Air Lines Wine Awards 2004 - Silver Medal, Veritas 2003 - Double Gold, Best Shiraz in Wine Magazine’s TOPS at Spar Shiraz Challenge 2004, Decanter 2006 Awards - Silver
2002: Fairbairn Capital Trophy Wine Show 2004 - Gold, International Wine and Spirit Competition 2004 - Gold Medal, International Wine and Spirit Competition 2006 - Silver, Best in Class Shiraz Stellenbosch – 2002
2003: Veritas 2005 - Silver Medal, International Wine Challenge 2006 - Seal of Approval, Veritas 2006 - Silver Medal
2004: International Wine and Spirit Competition 2006 - Silver, Veritas 2006 - Gold Medal
in the vineyard : Over the past decade Simonsig has replanted Shiraz vineyards with the best new virus treated Shiraz clones available. This has led to a dramatic improvement in the quality of the grapes. The vineyards were planted on specially selected sites where Shiraz would achieve optimum quality. In the 2000 vintage the grapes came from a vineyard planted with the highly rated SH 99 clone of Syrah. The soil is deep, red, decomposed granite which has an excellent water retention capacity facilitating deep root systems to extract minerals and nutrients. The Merindol name is taken from the Malan Coat of Arms.

The 2003 vintage was very good in terms of quality and quantity, especially after downy mildew destroyed a large part of the 2002 crop. A cold winter with sufficient rains was followed by a healthy dry growing season. Cool conditions caused slow evenly paced ripening. Excellent healthy ripe grapes were picked at 25 ºBalling and after 15% saignee, spent 18 days on the skins before spending 18 months in 100% New French Oak.

about the harvest: Picked at 25.6° Balling.

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