A plum red of medium depth colour. Delicate aromas of berries and peaches, with a touch of vanilla and herbs. Red berry and meaty flavours continue on the palate, supported by soft tannins. A smooth and velvety wine! Oak and fruit are well integrated, showing a sensitive use of wood.
A versatile wine that partners both red and white meats, the whole range of pastas and pizzas, and mild cheeses. Also for casual sipping with salami and olives, with a goat cheese starter or simple grilled chop and hamburger. Serve at 16–18ºC.
variety : Cabernet Sauvignon [ 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot ]
winemaker : Philip Constandius
wine of origin :
analysis : alc : 14.77 % vol rs : 2.48 g/l pH : 3.69 ta : 6.12 g/l va : 0.46 g/l so2 : 112 mg/l fso2 : 49 mg/l
wooded
pack : Bottle size : 0 closure : 0
in the vineyard : This blend which was known, earlier, as “Neethlingsroodâ€, combines two noble varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon (71%) and its perfect blending partner, Merlot (29%). Both varieties are grown in Tukulu soils on south-western and south-eastern slopes: the Cabernet at 120 –150 metres above sea level, and the Merlot at 290.
The Cabernet clones, planted between 1991 and 1993, are CS10, CS163 and CS46A. Only one Merlot clone, the MO192, is growing at Neethlingshof since 1985. Both are trellised onto a five-wire vertical fence-type system. The Cabernet vines, which yielded 5 tonnes per hectare, were irrigated, but the Merlot, with its low yield of 4 tonnes, are grown under dry-land conditions.
about the harvest: The two varieties were harvested by both hand and machine: the Cabernet after reaching an average Balling of 23,9º, and the Merlot 24,0º. They were brought to the cellar in March 1999 after a warm and dry growing season.
in the cellar : The varieties underwent separate fermentation in rotation tanks at 25–28ºC, after inoculation with Vin 13. After malolactic fermentation, the two wines were wooded in second-fill French oak barriques for 8 months. Following the careful assemblage on 18 May 2001, the wine was bottled a month later: on 20 June 2001, and bottle-matured for 8 months.