Du Toitskloof Pinotage

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Delicious with light meat dishes, venison, steak and pasta. This truly South African wine is a great companion to a traditional South African “braai”.

Du Toitskloof Wines has exclusive access to a vast number of vineyards varying in grape variety as well as soil profile, aspect and micro-climates. These are farmed by our 22 farmer-members, in conjunction with an expert team of viticulturists as well as input from the winemakers responsible for the bottled product.

For the Du Toitskloof Selected Vineyard Series, special parcels of vineyards displaying individual characteristics of excellence and bearing a site-specific character have been selected from which to produce a range of terroir-driven wines of unique terroir expression. During the growing season these vineyards are managed under the guidance of viticulture experts overseeing diligent pruning, suckering and canopy control schedules.

At harvest time, the fruit is vinified in small, individual parcels in a specially built, state-of-the-art harvest-cellar and wine-making facility, ensuring the resulting wines reflect the natural features of their vineyards of origin. Wines requiring wood maturation are aged in French oak barrels selected by the cellar master to assist in complementing the structure and flavour profile of each wine.

The Selected Vineyard Series represents the pinnacle of the diverse range of quality wines offered by Du Toitskloof.

All the grapes for this wine came from within 5 km of the Du Toitskloof cellar. The vines, grafted onto Richter 99 and 110 rootstocks, are grown in alluvial soils. Based on soil moisture levels, as measured by neutron hydrometers in the vineyards, controlled irrigation was applied. This practice ensured small berries with an excellent skin to fruit ratio, providing an intense colour and flavour spectrum. Grapes were picked when they reached optimum physiological ripeness.

The grapes were sourced from trellised vineyards and bush vines, and picked fully ripe at 25° to 26°C Balling.

After crushing and destemming, the grapes were cold-soaked at 12° to 15° C for 48 hours to extract maximum flavour and colour. Fermentation was started on the skins by inoculating the juice with a selected yeast strain. Fermentation lasted seven days during which the juice was pumped over the skins for 30 minutes every four hours. After the initial fermentation the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. It was the matured for eight months using a mixture of barrels and staves.

Chief winemaker: Shawn Thomson
Winemakers: Chris Geldenhuys, Willie Stofberg