Nederburg Ingenuity Spanish Red Blend 2013

ageing : The wine can be cellared for 10 to 15 years at least.

Tradition and talent blend with passion, precision and patience at Nederburg, where classically structured wines are made with vibrant fruit flavours.

Nederburg’s hallmark combination of fruit and finesse continues to be rewarded around the world. The Paarl winery continues to earn five-star ratings for its wines in Platter’s South African Wine Guide. In 2011, Nederburg was chosen as Platter’s Winery of the Year, with an unprecedented five wines across the multi-tiered range earning five-star ratings. In addition, cellarmaster Razvan Macici was crowned the 2012 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year and the winery itself announced the South African Producer of the Year at the 2012 International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC). These are just some of the many accolades earned by Nederburg where hand-crafted, micro-cuvées for specialist winelovers and beautifully balanced and accessible wines for everyday enjoyment are made with equal commitment.

Razvan Macici heads the team as Nederburg cellarmaster. He is supported by two winemakers who work closely under his direction. They are Samuel Viljoen, who produces the red wines and Natasha Williams, who makes the whites.

This hand-made wine is made from a blend of Tempranillo (90%) and Graciano (10%) grapes.

Cellarmaster Macici was inspired to create the wine after working with renowned Spanish winemaker Simon Arina Robles. The technical director of top boutique Rioja winery, Bodega Baigorri, spent a month working at Nederburg in 2010.

Ingenuity Collection: Ingenuity is Nederburg’s platform for innovation and houses exciting new blends made from lesser-known varietals or those combined in interesting new ways. As the name Ingenuity suggests, Nederburg’s ensemble of novel blended wines is an expression of skilled and inventive winemaking intended to explore new pleasures of taste. It targets winelovers who are delighted by craftsmanship and originality.

The fruit was then sorted again at Nederburg's gently vibrating hand-sorting tables to ensure vinification of only the very best quality grapes.

The Tempranillo and Graciano were vinified separately. Cold-soaking at 3°C to 5°C over several days delayed fermentation. The technique allows for optimal extraction of colour, aroma and flavour and gives a fine mouthfeel, good structure and smooth and silky tannins to the resulting wine. Even after fermentation on the skins in old 500-litre open wooden vats, maceration continued to impart greater intensity of colour and complexity of aroma and flavour. This was to produce a richly fruited wine with depth of flflavour and structure, abundant with dark berry, plum and spice characters.

Unusually, the wine underwent double first-fill barrel maturation. It first spent three months in first-fill American oak, followed by another 14 months in first-fill French oak.