Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Pinotage 2008

Colour: Bright, crisp ruby with hints of youthful purple around the edges.
Nose: Initial wafts of cedar and toasty oak are balanced out by hints of ripe, red berry-fruit. Fresh Mulberry and Raspberry nuances also with a touch of sweet vanilla in the background.
Palate: Clean, crisp and elegant, this vintage tends to be slightly leaner than its predecessors but with the same integrity of pure Pinotage fruit. The tannins are wonderfully ripe and integrated and result in a very friendly, unobtrusive and lasting finish.

Excellent enjoyed with game carpaccio, seared tuna and cheeses with a more salty taste profile.

variety : Pinotage [ 100% Pinotage ]
winemaker : Winemaker: Guy Webber & Natalee Hamilton
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 14.24 % vol  rs : 1.7 g/l  pH : 3.51  ta : 6.4 g/l  va : 0.74 g/l  
type : Red  style : Dry   wooded
pack : Bottle  closure : Cork  

ageing : While perfectly appealing in its youth, its Pinot characteristics should come to the fore nicely with further cellaring to an age of around 6 to 8 years.

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.

The award-winning Stellenzicht range reserves its Golden Triangle label for those wines that most eloquently demonstrate the unique terroir of this special part of the Helderberg, home to some of South Africa's most exceptional wines.

The vineyards
Planted in 1995, the vineyard lies on a relatively flat slope with the rows oriented from north to south. The medium-potential soils originate from decomposed granite with the vines generally receiving supplementary irrigation at véraison (onset of ripening) and again after harvesting. Being bush vines, the yield averaged 10.2 tons per hectare with exceptionally healthy fruit showing excellent flavour concentration.

Climatically, the 2009 vintage was characterised by below-average rainfall, especially during the ripening phase, thereby necessitating supplementary irrigation to fully ripen the fruit. Coupled with cooler-than-normal average temperatures during the period from December 2008 to February 2009 and this allowed for slower ripening and thus greater fruit intensity.

Viticulturists: Prof. Eben Archer and Johan Mong

about the harvest: The grapes were harvested by hand between 10 and 17 February 2009 at an average of 25.5° Balling.

in the cellar : After destemming and crushing, the mash was transferred to closed, horizontal stainless steel tanks where fermentation was induced by the addition of a variety of pure yeast strains. Fermentation took place at 28° to 30°C with light pneumatic pressing taking place just prior to the completion of fermentation.

A portion of the wine completed fermentation in stainless steel tanks while the rest was transferred to oak barrels where both the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation were completed.

After 21 months of barrel maturation, the different batches were blended and returned to barrels for an extra month before being prepared for bottling. Only 25% of the barrels used were new with the origin spread being: 53% French oak, 37% American oak, 5% Hungarian oak and 5% Eastern European oak. A total of 5 498 cases were produced with each case comprising 12 x 750ml bottles.

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