Colour: Dark ruby with pink hues and a bright rim.
Bouquet: Ripe berries with dried fruit backed by vanilla and oak aromas.
Taste: The bouquet carries through onto the palate with fruit and oak flavours contributing to a well-rounded mouth-feel. This wine also has a backbone of ripe tannins and a long peppery finish.
This lively, yet serious wine is excellent when chilled slightly and served with robustly-flavoured dishes such as lamb shanks, stuffed shoulder of lamb and pork with crackling.
variety : Cabernet Sauvignon [ 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Shiraz ]
winemaker : Estelle Lourens
wine of origin : Simonsberg ward, Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 14.32 % vol rs : 3.2 g/l pH : 3.42 ta : 5.8 g/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Medium taste : Fruity wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Background
Uitkyk Estate, situated on the south-western slopes of the Simonsberg, was established in 1712. The estate’s neo-classical manor house, completed in 1788, is thought to be the work of the French architect Louis Michel Thibault, who was active at the Cape at the end of the 18th century. The estate is jointly owned by Distell and LUSAN.
Vineyard Location
Uitkyk Estate is 600ha in size with 140ha under vines. An interesting variety of cultivars are planted on the estate including Chardonnay, Sémillon, Chenin blanc, Viognier, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinotage, Sangiovese, Mourvédre, Petit Verdot and Pinot noir. All the vines grow in deep red, decomposed granite soil.
The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were sourced from a well-established, north-west facing vineyard block planted between 1989 and 1993 and situated some 260m to 300m above sea level. The vines received supplementary irrigation in early January 2006.
The Shiraz grapes were sourced from two vineyard blocks, planted in 1995 and 2003 respectively. Both vineyards face in a north to north-westerly direction and are situation some 280m to 330m above sea level.
The vines of both cultivars are grafted on nematode-resistant rootstocks R99 and R110 and pruned to optimise yield and quality. The Cabernet Sauvignon yielded 5 tons/ha and the Shiraz 4 tons/ha.
in the cellar : The two varieties were fermented separately in a combination of rotation tanks and open fermenters at 26 to 28°C until dry. Pure yeast cultures (NT116, NT50, L2056 and D254) were used and fermentation was completed in five to eight days.
After pressing, the Cabernet Sauvignon was transferred to stainless steel tanks for malolactic fermentation, after which it was racked before being transferred to 300-litre barrels for a maturation period which lasted 15 to 16 months.
The Shiraz was transferred to barrels before malolactic fermentation was completed and thereafter racked twice during the maturation period of 17 months. Mainly French wood was used (65%), but also American (29%) and Hungarian wood (6%).
A combination of new barrels (44%), second-fill (11%) and third-fill barrels (45%) were used. Bottling took place in September 2007.