Spice Route Chakalaka 2010

Name: Spice Route Chakalaka 2010
Brand: Spice Route
SKU: 32369

Intense red-purple in the glass. Initial smoky cloves and savoury notes give way to a plum and black cherry nose with hints of sweet oak spice. Medium bodied with well-integrated oak and fruit, this wine has a smooth tannin structure and lingering spice flavours.

Winemaker's Comments - Charl du Plessis
"The wine consists of six varieties with Shiraz as the dominant one, giving structure and complexity to the blend."

variety : Shiraz [ 37% Shiraz, 25% Mourvèdre, 13% Carignan, 10% Tannat, 8% Grenache, 7% Petite Sirah ]

winery : Spice Route Winery

winemaker : Charl du Plessis

wine of origin : Swartland

analysis : alc : 14.7 % vol rs : 4.0 g/l pH : 3.65 ta : 6.3 g/l

type : Red style : Dry body : Medium wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

AWARDS

Decanter World Wine Awards 2013 - Silver Medal

in the vineyard : All vineyards are in the Swartland region and are planted on Richter 99 rootstock. Shiraz makes up the majority of the blend and is sourced from a dryland, trellised vineyard planted on Oakleaf soils. In 2010 the vineyard yielded 5.5 tons per hectare. The remainder of the grapes in the blend are from bushvine vineyards planted on Oakleaf and Koffieklip soils. The average yield for these vineyards was between 3.5 and 4.5 tons per hectare.

about the harvest: From mid February to mid March 2010.
Shiraz was machine harvested in the early morning. The remaining fruit was hand harvested. The grapes were all picked at between 25° and 27°B.

in the cellar : Hand harvested grapes were destalked and lightly crushed and all fruit was fermented in open concrete fermenters ('kuipe'), using Oenoform Rouge yeasts. Manual punch downs were done twice daily during fermentation (Grenache three times daily). The wines were racked off and sent to barrel for malolactic fermentation and further ageing. The wine matured individually in a combination of French and American oak for about 14 months - after that another 5 months as a blended wine.

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