Colour: Light ruby
Bouquet: Ripe berry character with dark chocolate and slight mintiness in the background.
Taste: Medium bodied fruity with a soft and elegant, palate laced with ripe fruit and spicy vanilla.
An ideal partner to robust dishes made from game, poultry, venison and red meats, especially stews and casseroles.
in the vineyard : Nine leading vineyard owners in the Durbanville district joined forces with Distell to create Durbanville Hills with the aim of promoting the regional individuality of this prime winegrowing area. The striking Durbanville Hills cellar sits proudly atop a series of rolling hills with magnificent views of Table Mountain and Table Bay - the very geography that lies at the heart of what makes the wines so unique. The Durbanville ward is officially considered one of the Cape’s two coolest wine regions, thanks to the sea breezes that drift inland from False Bay and Table Bay and the late afternoon mists that bathe the slopes. These conditions are ideal for the slow ripening of the grapes, allowing them to develop their full flavoured and intense character. Grapes are sourced only from the shareholder growers, all of whom farm within the limited appellation of Durbanville. Meticulous crop control applied to these vineyards further limits yields and promotes concentration of varietal flavour, encouraging a process of natural selection. Cellarmaster Martin Moore uses highly advanced cellar technology to ensure optimal extraction of colour and flavour.
The vineyards (vineyard consultant: Johan Pienaar)
The grapes for this wine were chosen from two distinctly different vineyards-one on a sunny, north-facing hill, chosen for the prominent varietal aromas of the grapes, and the other on a cool, south-facing slope, chosen for the sound structure the grapes would impart to the wine.
in the cellar : After 24 hours of cold soaking, the must was fermented on the skins for eight days at 29ºC until dry and then left on the skins for two weeks to allow for extended maceration to soften the texture. The fermenting juice was mixed with the skins every two hours to impart an intensity of colour and flavour. Fermentation took place in stainless steel Dizio tanks from Italy. Maximum fruit, colour and tannin extraction from the skins was made possible through continuous computer-regulated pump-over cycles. The fermenting juice was kept in closed, oxygen-poor tanks, while the skins remained fully immersed during the entire fermentation and maceration period. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was matured for 12 months in equal quantities of new, second-fill and third-fill 300 litre French oak barrels.