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Hill&Dale Merlot Rosé 2009

Colour: Enticing and lively with a delicate shade of rose petal-pink.
Bouquet: Fruity aromas of mostly strawberries and raspberries with a dash of fresh mint in the background.
Taste: Refreshingly fruity, the wine gives the impression of having some sweetness while being totally dry. Ripe berry-flavours dominate initially with the finish being clean and pure due to a crisp acidity.

A wonderful lunch-time wine, enjoy it on its own or with Parma ham, light chicken dishes, smoked cold meats and leafy green salads. A winner with sushi.

variety : Merlot [ 100% Merlot ]

winery : Hill and Dale

winemaker : Guy Webber & Samantha de Morney-Hughes

wine of origin : Coastal

analysis : alc : 13.58 % vol rs : 2.0 g/l pH : 2.99 ta : 6.4 g/l so2 : 108 mg/l

type : Rose style : Dry

pack : Bottle closure : Screwcap

in the vineyard : Background
Stellenzicht's Hill&Dale label offers a range of accessibly styled wines with a New World character for international appeal, created by award-winning winemaker Guy Webber and his team. Despite their being made for early and easy enjoyment, Webber has eschewed a generic format for these wines, instead choosing to clearly express their origins.

Grapes for Hill&Dale are sourced exclusively from Stellenbosch, with an extensive vineyard management programme in place, which includes inputs from international specialists such as viticultural guru, Prof. Eben Archer. The name for the range was derived from Stellenzicht's Hillandale farm.

Vineyard Location
Planted between 1987 and 1993, the vineyards from which the grapes were sourced grow in decomposed granite and Table Mountain sandstone. The vines are all grafted onto nematode-resistant Richter 110 rootstocks and are trellised on a five-wire fence system. Yields were restricted to just 8.7 tons per hectare.
Viticulturist: Prof. Eben Archer and Johan Mong

about the harvest: The grapes were picked by hand at an average of 22.6° Balling.

in the cellar : After harvesting the grapes were crushed and destalked with the juice being removed from the skins immediately in order to prevent too much colour extraction. From there, the vinification followed the same processes as those used traditionally for white wines.

After a brief settling period, fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at temperatures of around 16° C. On completion of the fermentation, the wine was allowed a short time on the lees before being prepared for bottling.

Only a light bentonite fining was needed to ensure stability of the wine before final filtration. Bottling took place on 7 April 2009 with a total of 52 000 litres being produced.

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