1. HOME
  2. WINES
  3. The Drift Year of the Rooster Rosé 2014
  4. « go back

The Drift Year of the Rooster Rosé 2014

This is a no compromise, seriously dry, 007 type wine. It is made from a single vineyard Touriga Franca – a suitably unusual varietal for a remarkable Rosé. Vineyards are planted high up on the side of a windswept, granite-rich, fynbos-festooned mountainside. Some call this obsessive Rosé madness. We call it, incredibly delicious, authentic wine made to intrigue the romantics and the restless alike. We make 4 barrels a year.

Enjoy only with close friends and loved ones.
variety : Touriga Franca [ 100% Touriga Franca ]
winery : The Drift Estate
winemaker : Bruce Jack
wine of origin : Overberg
analysis : alc : 11.5 % vol  rs : 1.3 g/l  pH : 3.62  
type : Rose  style : Dry  body : Light  taste : Fruity   wooded
pack : Bottle  size : 750ml  closure : Screwcap  

From the Label

This Rosé is about celebrating the outdoor, sun-filled lifestyle. Like all the wines we make, our priority is to make seriously good quality, world class wine. However, we want to do this in harmony with nature and with respect to our land and those who work with us

This wine is perfectly suited to long, lazy picnics, watching the sun set or coaxing the settling coals before a braai. It will pair very well with crayfish salad, smoked salmon and even spicy food, but can also be easily enjoyed on it's own.
in the vineyard : 

We chose a north facing, gently sloping site quite high up against the mountain. At around 350m above sea level this vineyard is cool in summer, but because of the north facing aspect gets enough sun. The soil is unusually homogenous on this spot of the farm, but it is quite sandy with decomposed Table Mountain sandstone, decomposed granitic substrate over shale and clay. I assumed it would be the sort of soil that would be tricky, but could provide great aromatic intensity and some persistent flavours, as well as natural high acids. And so it is happily proving. We never really worry about the sugar level. It is more important to get the right crisp, red fruits and balanced acidity.

All the hard work actually gets done in the vineyard and starts six months before harvesting with very careful hand pruning in the winter, which on The Drift farm can be very cold indeed. 
about the harvest: The Drift farm is probably too cold to ripen this variety properly, but it reaches 19 degrees Balling with healthy fruit and beautifully developed strawberry and cherry flavours. It is around this sugar level that we harvest for our Rosé. The grapes are hand harvested on flavour alone.
in the cellar : The bunches are softly destemmed (berries taken off in a destemming machine) and slightly crushed. After a few hours of contact in the press to extract the right amount of red colour from the skins, the grapes are pressed dry and fermented in old 500 litre French barrels until bone dry. We age the wine in the barrels for 8 months and then bottle with a light filtration. That’s about it - very simple winemaking. No tricks - just natural winemaking, so the vineyard can speak through the eventual wine.
email the winery
email this page
find our wines in :

OTHER VINTAGES

The Drift Year of the Rooster Rosé 2014
Touriga Franca
The Drift Year of the Rooster Rosé 2012
Touriga Franca
The Drift Year of the Rooster Rosé
Cabernet Sauvignon