An elegant rich blend with sumptuous blackberry fruits shielding the Shiraz spice. Juicy with intense ripe plum fruit and well-balanced wood integration all around.
Enjoy this wine now with roast beef, guinea fowl, roast chicken, stews, lamb, venison, pasta and steak. Serving Temp: 12° - 14° C.Allergens: Contains Sulphites
variety : Cabernet Sauvignon [ 51% Cabernet
49% Shiraz ]
winemaker : Lolly Louwrens
wine of origin : Robertson
analysis : alc : 13.78 % vol rs : 4.5 g/l pH : 3.66 ta : 5.57 g/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Full taste : Fruity wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Vintage
The 2009 vintage promises wines of outstanding quality. The biggest feature of the 2008/09 season was the very cool weather conditions during the latter part of spring, right through the summer, prevailing up to the second half of February. The average temperatures measured
at the Robertson Agricultural Research station confirms this, with October through to February being on average between 1.1° - 2.3° C cooler than the long term average.
Heavy rain during the beginning of November resulted in vigorous growth that necessitated additional canopy management. Little or no rain through the rest of the ripening period enabled growers to control growth and berry size with regulated deficit irrigation. The crop size of the later flowering varieties, including Sauvignon Blanc and most of the red wine varieties, are smaller than in 2008, due to the November rain.
The positive effect of the cooler ripening conditions is evident in the wines, with white wines having very pronounced varietal aromas and red wines showing beautiful intense colour with excellent aroma and flavour components.
Vineyards
Both the Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz berries for this blend were already selected in the vineyard. The Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards grow in lime rich karoo soils, as well as in well weathered shale soils in the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains.
The Shiraz vineyards are grown in lime rich karoo soils where regulated deficit irrigation is being used to control vine vigour and berry size. With both these varieties the crop level is controlled by canopy management actions, like shoot thinning and "green harvest", if necessary.
about the harvest: The Shiraz fruit was harvested from the third week of February and the Cabernet Sauvignon fruit was harvested from the last week of February.
Both Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were harvested at full ripeness between 24.5° - 26.5° Balling from a selection of vineyards.
Yield: 10tons
in the cellar : Cold soaking on the Cabernet Sauvignon happened for two days prior to fermentation to ensure optimum colour and flavour extraction. Fermentation happened in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. The Cabernet Sauvignon was matured on French Oak for 8 months and 30% of the Shiraz was matured on American Oak for 8 months prior to blending.