Colour: Wonderful intensity of colour with bright ruby and garnet tones and youthful purple edges.
Bouquet: An earthy array of savoury berry fruit and herbs with touches of cinnamon and cloves in the background.
Taste: Classic and elegant with hints of red berry fruit, coriander and vanilla. Wonderfully soft and subtle while the medium to full-bodied structure lingers well at the end.
Herb-crusted lamb, oxtail and "tamatie bredie" are amongst the favourites but it is a great accompaniment to an array of similar dishes.
variety : Merlot [ 100% Merlot ]
winemaker : Guy Webber
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 14.36 % vol rs : 3.6 g/l pH : 3.24 ta : 7 g/l va : 0.45 g/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Full wooded
pack : Bottle size : 0 closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Background
Flanked by the Helderberg and Stellenbosch Mountains, between Stellenbosch and the False Bay coast, lies an exceptional tract of land that benefits from terroirs eminently suited to the cultivation of the highest quality wine grapes. This jewel in the crown of the magnificent Stellenbosch wine-growing region is known as the Golden Triangle. At its core lies Stellenzicht.
Award-winning Stellenzicht reserves its Golden Triangle label for those wines which most eloquently demonstrate the unique terroir of this special part of the Helderberg, home to some of South Africa's most exceptional wines.
Vineyard Location
The vineyards, planted between 1987 and 1993, are situated on slopes facing west and north-west, planted at an altitude of between 150m and 230m above sea level and grow in a combination of decomposed granite and Table Mountain sandstone. The vines, grafted onto nematode-resistant rootstocks of Richter 99, R110 and Ruggeri 140 and trellised on five-wire fence systems, all received supplementary irrigation when necessary and yielded an average of 5 tons per hectare.
The climatic conditions for this vintage were characterised by lower-than-normal summer temperatures except for the heat waves experienced in February, just before harvest. These hot February temperatures were thankfully offset by above average rains during this period and the fruit thus ripened very well.
Viticulturist: Prof. Eben Archer & Johan Mong
in the cellar : After destalking and crushing, the mash was fermented in stainless steel tanks at 28°C for six days before being transferred to oak barrels for further maturation. The wine was matured in a combination of American (32%), French (54%) and Eastern European (14%) oak barrels for 14 months with only a single racking taking place after 10 months. A total of 31% of the barrels was new. The wine was bottled on 5 December 2008 with the total production being a mere 827 cases (12 x 750ml).