The vibrant and immensely lively purple hue of this wine shines out of the glass. Its intricate spice, licorice and wild bush aromas grab your curiosity, whilst preparing the senses for a highly individual and aromatic palate. A vinous and wonderfully charged mouthfeel combines with an array of lavender, spices and blueberries. A distinctly mineral quality pervades through the palate and creates lift and freshness in the flavours and a subtle, full and complex finish. A highly individual, enigmatic wine; a true blend. As refreshing by its palate as it is by its approach.
variety : Shiraz [ 71% Shiraz, 13% Carignan, 12% Grenache, 3% Mourvedre, 1% Viognier ]
winemaker : Team Effort
wine of origin : Perdeberg-Swartland
analysis : alc : 14.5 % vol rs : 2.8 g/l pH : 3.58 ta : 5.1 g/l
type : Red style : Dry wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Screwcap
in the vineyard : Each of the 6 vineyards is located on South-Westerly & Westerly slopes of the Perdeberg Mountain. Situated 70 kms as the crow flies directly North of Table Mountain and in close proximity to the cooling maritime breezes and the very cold waters of the South Atlantic. Notwithstanding these influences, this remains a hot-climate area. The Shiraz and Grenache vary in age from 11 to 21 years old, the Mourvèdre & Viognier 8 to 10 years -all children of the new South Africa. The Carignan is 36 years old. Yields were very low, at 23 - 25 hl per hectare. Winter rains were excellent, temperatures nice and cold, followed by perfectly even flowering in the Spring. 2009 was, as in much of the world, a quite superb vintage here. It was one of those years where the seasons worked as perfectly as one could possibly wish for, producing fruit of exceptional quality, with beautiful natural balance and purity. A great advantage of producing fruit from fabulous well-established and unirrigated bush vines for the entirety of this blend is that we are also able to retain excellent minerality -through low PH’s, good natural acidity and alcohols which are not out of kilter, even in a hot climate like that of the Perdeberg. These bushvines are accustomed to the heat and the toughness of this rugged environment and with so many seasons under their belt, have struck-up a harmonious co-existence. Their root systems go very deep, as they have to look a long way for water, and plunge up to 10 - 12 meters into the granitic subsoils and bedrock below.
in the cellar : The sorting process starts in the vineyard, although every grape passes over the sorting table in the winery, then they’re de-stemmed & placed directly into old-fashioned but fantastic open-top oak fermenters, each varietal separately. Punch-downs were regularly carried-out, also by hand. The Grenache and Carignan (which were partially co-fermented) were not left on their skins for an extended post-fermentation period (in order to retain fruit rather than to extract further structure), unlike the Shiraz which was. The Mourvèdre was partially co-fermented with some Shiraz, the rest separately. The methods used with the Viognier remain our secret. For 2/3 of the wines, micro-oxygenation was carried-out in tank and then in barrel, prior to and following malolactic fermentation. (2/3 of the overall wine was matured in barrel, of which 90% small French, 10% American. Ratio New to 2nd& 3rd fill : 35%, 30%, 35%. The remaining portion stayed in tank throughout, where it was also micro-oxygenated). All kept on primary lees throughout their maturation, until racking prior to assembling then bottling. The Shiraz pressed-juice matured separately to the free run, in barrel. All barrel maturation carried-out in a temperature controlled cellar, over 12 months, on the primary lees. The wines were then assembled into one tank, settled for 2 months and bottled without filtration.