Good colour and tight, concentrated tannins from the Walker Bay area are combined with the elegant, juicy wine from Franschhoek to produce a wine full of flavour and complexity. The nose reflects black cherry and cranberry fruit, with liquorice and white pepper spice. The splash of Viognier contributes with rose petal perfume.
An innovative blend like this lends itself to exciting adventures with a variety of foods. Taste how beautifully it harmonises with duck, smoked chicken, aromatic foods, venison, roast lamb or beef and spicy patés. Also perfect on its own.
variety : Shiraz [ 90% Shiraz, 10% Viognier ]
winemaker : Edmund Terblanche
wine of origin : Coastal
analysis : alc : 13.67 % vol rs : 2.0 g/l pH : 3.54 ta : 5.9 g/l
type : Red style : Dry wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Origin
This wine is a blend of 90% Shiraz and 10% Viognier. The Shiraz component is from Bot River in the Walker Bay region (70%) and Franschhoek (20%), while the Viognier (10%) originates from Franschhoek.
Vintage
A number of conditions caused lower yields - a long winter that affected flowering, very little rain during December and January, which resulted in smaller bunches, a short heatwave early in December, causing damage to some unprotected bunches, and windy conditions that could have robbed vines from moisture. Temperatures lower than average delayed harvest-time by as much as two weeks. On the positive side, low temperatures and mild weather conditions allowed for good flavour protection and slow ripening - ripening was at lower sugar levels, contributing towards the production of elegant, accessible wines.
Viticulture
The Shiraz vineyard in the Walker Bay region grows in shallow scale soil and the one in the Franschhoek area in deep, sandy, weathered granite. Both vineyards are trellised according to the Perold system. The vineyards are managed organically and in both cases the yield is naturally low. The Viognier was selected from Franschhoek on the grounds of its late ripening, simultaneously with the Shiraz component.
in the cellar : The Shiraz and Viognier components were fermented in the same tank. The wine was pumped over regularly and fermented at 25 degrees Celsius. After fermentation, the wine was left on the lees for an extended period of approximately two weeks. Malolactic fermentation and maturation were in 300-litre French oak barrels, 70% of which were new. The wine was matured for fifteen months before bottling in November 2010.
4,000 cartons (6 x 750ml) were released.