Stellenzicht Syrah 1999

Intense, rich ruby hues with a distinct, youthful purple tinge and opaque center. On the nose, a rich complexity of aromas of mocha and dark-chocolate combine with the spicy sweetness of ripe plums and toasted oak. Cinnamon and cloves beautifully round off the sweetish fruit aromas. On the palate, the wine is full and succulent with firm, yet soft tannins. The ripeness of fruit results in a mouth-filling experience of true Shiraz. This is a truly modern wine with awesome structure, intensity and balance.

The full-bodied character of this wine makes it a great partner to rich oxtail stews, smoked Kudu sirloin and firm, grilled game fish - and even chocolate deserts. This is a wine for special friends and occasions.

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variety : Shiraz [ 100% Shiraz ]

winery : Stellenzicht Vineyards

winemaker : Guy Webber

wine of origin : Coastal

analysis : alc : 14.77 % vol rs : 2.8 g/l pH : 3.66 ta : 5.6 g/l va : 0.79 g/l so2 : 72 mg/l fso2 : 35 mg/l

type : Red wooded

pack : Bottle

AWARDS

The International Wine & Spirit Competition 2002 - Gold
The South African Trophy Wine Show 2002 - Silver

ageing : For justice to be done to this wine, it needs at least three years of cellaring before being enjoyed, and will develop well for up to ten years.

in the vineyard : Planted in 1989, the single vineyard producing the grapes used to craft this wine is grown on slopes facing west and north-west and on soils originating from decomposed granite. This vineyard block, Block 242, is affectionately know as â€œPlum Pudding Hillâ€ as it consistently produces extremely high quality fruit and ripe wines. The vines are all grafted onto nematode-resistant 101-14 rootstocks and are trellised on six-wire â€œfenceâ€ systems. When needed, the vines receive supplementary overhead irrigations to limit the amount of moisture-stress they are subjected to. The yield from the vineyard was restricted to 6.4 Tonnes per hectare to further enhance the quality of the fruit.

about the harvest: All of the grapes for this wine were harvested by hand on 9 March 1999 and reached the winery at 26 degrees Balling.

in the cellar : After destalking and crushing, the mash was fermented in stainless steel tanks with a selected, pure yeast culture (NT50) with the juice being removed from the skins after five days. Fermentation temperatures peaked at 30 degrees Celsius.

Once the fermentation was complete, the wine was drained off the primary lees and transferred to a â€œrestingâ€ tank. Malolactic fermentation and a brief settling period preceded the transfer of the wine to a combination of 225 litre oak barrels of different coopers and oak types. 87% Of the barrels were new and 13% second-fill, with a split between French and American oaks of 90% and 10% respectively. Barrel maturation lasted for 15 months before the wine was prepared for bottling on 3 October 2000. A total of 1541 cases (12 x 750ml) were produced.

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