Simonsig Shiraz 1998

Beautiful dark colour with healthy bright rim. Intense spicy black berry fruit with toasty sweet vanilla oak aromas which follows through on the palate. Complex herb and pepper flavours adds further complexity and textbook Shiraz identity. Gentle refined tannins provides the perfect structure for this deliciously full bodied wine from an excellent Vintage.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
Potroast, Beef Stroganof, Mature cheddar and Biltong

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variety : Shiraz [ Shiraz ]

winery : Simonsig Wine Estate

winemaker : Johan Malan

wine of origin : Stellenbosch

analysis : alc : 13.85 % vol rs : 1.83 g/l pH : 3.66 ta : 5.8 g/l

ageing : 8 to 10 years

in the cellar : STYLE OF WINE:
Full bodies richly flavoured dry red.

BACKGROUND:
The oldest Shiraz vineyards on the Estate were planted in 1973 and the yields are sometimes as low as 4 tons per hectare. In 1993 a new planting program was started for Shiraz and only the best available clones were planted. These clones are all virus free and come from South Africa, France and Argentina. The 1996 Shiraz is the first wine to include grapes from the new plantings. The new clones ripen earlier with high sugar levels and an abundance of colour. The yields are also higher and green harvest was done just prior to veriason.

VINTAGE DESCRIPTION:
It was a fairly dry winter with 529 mm of rain which is about 20% below average. The growing season started early and we expected a very early harvest. This was exacerbated by very hot conditions during harvest which resulted in high sugars. Due to these hot conditions we harvested very healthy grapes as there were no problems with viticultural diseases during the growing period. The size of the crop was about 10% below average and the average yield was 8.5 T/Ha. Exceptionally ripe grapes were picked and the wines all show very dark colours, succulent fruit and soft ripe tannins.

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