Cheviot Syrah 2005
The white pepper, plum & raspberry notes lead on to harmonious, finely spiced blend of elegant midweight fruit, moderate 12.5% alc, discreet oak though with coconut/vanilla whiffs from American oak component; persistent flavours.
Lighter meat dishes. Soft cheese. Pizza and pasta dishes. Chill slightly for serving at summer lunch.
variety : Shiraz [ 100% Shiraz ]
winemaker : Elmari Swart
wine of origin : Helderberg
analysis : alc : 12.43 % vol rs : 1.64 g/l ta : 6.6 g/l
type : Red style : Dry
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : The vineyard, from which our grapes are sourced, lies at around 200 m above sea level, facing north-east. The soils in this area are mainly granite-derived and would suggest a high growth-vigour, but due to the strong South-Easter winds and detail vineyard management, the vines achieve a balanced growth. Suring the ripening period, we visit the vineyard every few days to monitor the development of the berries and the ripeness level.
about the harvest: This vintage was the 1st vintage from a new grape grower and was considered as an "experimental vintage". As the vintage was very hot and rain was expected, we decided to harvest earlier and most. This was done to prevent the almost-ripe berries from absorbing excessive soil moisture and possibly bursting with subsequent rot. This resulted in a higher than expected natural acidity in the fermented wine, as well as a lower final alcohol volume.
in the cellar : Hand harvested grapes were delivered to the cellar in Stellenbosch. Grapes are crushed and destemmed using a small destemmer, directly into open-top fermenters. Cold maceration for 24 hours. Fermentation is inoculated with cultured yeast, specifically selected to ferment under cool conditions. Punch down twice daily during fermentation, fermentation temperature around 28°C.
Cooling is done with frozen water bottles. Pressing is done with wooden basket press of approx 750L capacity. After pressing, the free run and press wine blended and wines are transferred to containers for malolactic fermentation. Malolactic : Transfer to tank for Malolactic. 100% malolactic with cultured bacteria. Clean wine racked into barrel after about 3 months.