Kleine Rust Semi Sweet 2018

Utter opulence in a glass made for those who appreciate richness in a glass with a touch of texture and elegance. The days of semi-sweet wines being bland sugar driven concentrate, is of the past.

The grapes used for this wine are harvested from 5 – 50 year old bush vine planted in the Bottelary Hills. Soil types vary from decomposed granite to sand. The Muscat grapes used for this wine are picked from a 52 year old vine-yard and boasts wonderful fruit intensity.

Grapes are picked at optimum ripeness around 22° Balling. The Muscat is picked as noble late harvest when the grapes have picked up Botrytis.

The juice was allowed some skin contact with the grapes. The juice starts a wild yeast fermentation, before it is inoculated with a special brew of commercial yeast suitable to produce rich and ripe flavours.

The Muscat is picked as noble late harvest when the grapes have picked up Botrytis and fermented to a residual sugar of about 140g/L. This component of sweet wine is then blended down with Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc to a semi-sweet level. It is fermented cold in stainless steel tanks over a period of 2 to 3 weeks between 11 – 15°C and left on its primary fermentation lees for at least 3 months before refinement and bottling.

Assistant winemaker: Herman du Preez