variety : Shiraz [ 100% Shiraz ]
winemaker : Dewaldt Heyns
wine of origin : Breede River
analysis : alc : 15.28 % vol rs : 3.00 g/l pH : 3.46 ta : 6.3 g/l va : 0.51 g/l so2 : 79 mg/l fso2 : 39 mg/l
type : Red wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Cultivar: Shiraz
Clones: SH1, SH9, SH22
Rootstock: R99 and 101/14
Age: 7 years
Soil: Structured red soils and sandy soil with course gravel
in the cellar : Force cooled to 4 °C, bunch sorted, destemmed, berry sorted and gently crushed into a satellite tank. Deposited in open and closed fermenters. The must was dejuiced by 5 - 15% depending on the vineyard. It was given a cold soak of 3 to 4 days at 9 °C with a CO2 blanket. Heated to 18 °C and inoculated with L2323, BM45, L2056 and D254 yeasts.
The fermentation temperature was allowed to peak at 28 °C and then brought down to 24 °C. The fermenting grapes were punched down once daily during cold soak, four times daily during fermentation and once daily post fermentation. About 20% was pressed at 3 ° - 5 °B and finished fermentation in barrels. The rest was given extended maceration after fermentation. Total time on the skins varies from 10 to 16 days.
The wine was then pressed into new 300 litre French Allier (85%) and American (15%) oak barrels. The press fraction was separated. Malolactic bacteria were inoculated and malolactic fermentation was completed in the barrels. After malolactic fermentation the wines were given a low sulphur dose and left on the gross lees for 10 months. The wine was racked, blended and returned to barrels. After a total of 16 months in barrels the wine was racked, given a light egg-white fining and filtered through a coarse sheet filter. Bottling was done with a light sheet filtration. The wine will now be bottle matured for 12 months prior to release.