La Motte Syrah 2012

Optimal Syrah terroir, timely picking at the correct ripeness and blending with a complementary varieties ensure that this is a wine of balance, complexity, freshness and finesse. Intense perfume and rose petal aromas are backed up by cranberry fruit and aniseed spice. The palate shows a juicy entry with raspberry fruit, chalky tannin and a hint of fresh mint in the finish.

Most enjoyable with venison, spicy pâtés, guinea fowl and roast beef or lamb.

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variety : Shiraz [ 87% Shiraz, 6% Grenache, 3% Temperanillo, 2% Petit Syrah, 2% Cinsaut ]

winery : La Motte

winemaker : Edmund Terblanche

wine of origin : Western Cape

analysis : alc : 13.7 % vol rs : 2.5 g/l pH : 3.53 ta : 5.7 g/l

type : Red taste : Fragrant

pack : Bottle size : 0 closure : Cork

in the vineyard :

Origin
This wine originates from different vineyards in the Cape Winelands: Franschhoek (45%), Walker Bay (25%), Elim (15%), Paarl (10%) and Stellenbosch (5%).

Vintage
A number of factors resulted in a lower than average yield. Especially dry-land vineyards experienced weight losses later in the season. It was fairly cool during the growing season, with the exception of late January, when the temperature rose above 40 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days, followed, a few days later, by two more days of over 40 degrees. Generally, it was a good year, with reds showing good colour and intense flavour.

Viticulture
The vineyards all have unique macro climates and grow in a large variety of soil types. Different clones are represented. All the vineyards are trellised according to a wire system and managed to maintain a perfect balance between leaf coverage and yield. Thanks to the different terroirs, each area produces its own distinctive grapes, so grapes from each area make a unique contribution to flavour and structure. Each area has a different harvest date. The grapes for this wine were harvested over a period of one month.

about the harvest: Grapes were picked when still firm, but ripe.

in the cellar : The bunches were de-stemmed and hand-sorted. Whole berries were pumped into an open stainless steel tank, inoculated and cool-fermented (20 – 24 degrees Celsius), while pumping over allowed thorough aeration. Malolactic fermentation started in the tanks and finished in 300-litre French oak barrels (30% new). The wine was matured for 14 months, then blended, filtered and bottled. The blend includes Grenache (6%), Temperanillo (3%), Petit Syrah (2%) and Cinsaut (2%). 20 000 cartons (6 x 750 ml) were produced.

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