Rietvallei 1908 Muscadel 2008

2008 Michelangelo International Wine Awards - Silver medal
Deep red in colour, full-bodied, rich, yet gentle. A floral bouquet comes through on the nose, with typical raisin sweetness and an intense flavour that lingers on the palate and follows through on the aftertaste. Additional bottle maturation gives excellent results.

variety : Muscat de Frontignan [ 100% Muscat de Frontignan ]

winery : Rietvallei Wine Estate

winemaker : Kobus Burger

wine of origin : Breede River

analysis : alc : 16.27 % vol rs : 194.1 g/l pH : 3.57 ta : 233.3 g/l va : 0.4 g/l so2 : 122 mg/l fso2 : 12 mg/l

type : Fortified style : Sweet body : Full taste : Fragrant wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

AWARDS

Veritas 2008 - Bronze
2008 Michelangelo International Wine Awards - Silver medal

in the vineyard : This unique wine is made exclusively from the oldest Muscadel (Muscat de Frontignan) vines in South Africa, planted on Rietvallei Estate in 1908 by the second generation of the Burger family. The Muscadel is in the form of bush vines and consists of approximately a quarter of a hectare. At 95 years of age these bush vines have an extremely low yield, resulting in excellent fruit concentration.

about the harvest: The bush vines were harvested by hand at 28° Balling.

in the cellar : This wine is still made according to the original Burger family recipe as passed down through the generations since 1864.

Most of the traditional wine making techniques are also still followed to this day for this special wine, like the fermentation in open concrete tanks; the wetting of the cap by pushing it down by hand every two hours during fermentation; and finally the use of a hand operated basket press. You could really say that this wine is hand made.

After harvesting, the grapes were crushed and pumped into open cement tanks. Here it was kept on the skins for 2 days for colour and flavour extraction. During this time the cap (grape skins that compact on the top of the must because of CO2 formation as a result of fermentation) is wetted every 2 hours by pushing it down into the must by hand. After the 2 days, the free run must is drained and the wet skins pressed in a basket press. The must is then fortified with pure wine spirits and left on its fine lees for 2 months. After this it is taken from the lees and allowed to tank mature for 12-13 months before bottling. This maturation is essential for the marriage of the spirits and the wine.

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