in the cellar : This Grenache was sourced from bush vines made from two vineyards – one on Welgegund on the slopes of the Saronsberg, and the other on Waveren. The grapes were picked by hand in the early morning hours and then pre-cooled in our chiller. Ninety percent of the bunches and berries were destemmed and hand-sorted on stainless steel vibration tables by highly trained staff. The balance of the bunches was kept whole and added to the fermentation tanks.
An initial cold-soak period of three days preceded fermentation, which was allowed to start naturally and finished with inoculated yeast. The wine was given extended postfermentation maceration on the skins; the total time spent on the skins was 26 days. The grapes were then pressed into 100% second-fill 300 litre French oak barrels, keeping the free-run and press fractions separate.
Malolactic fermentation finished in barrels and the wine was left on its lees. Ten months later the wine was racked and returned to barrel. After a total of 20 months in barrel the wine was prepared for bottling, preceded by a coarse filtration.