The Mentors Perold Tributum 2019

ageing : 

Enjoy now or cellar for eight to ten years from vintage.

Blending a multi-variety wine can be challenging as it requires time, patience and skill. As a result, blending is widely considered an art in itself. By perfecting this art, the winemaker can create a wine that both rewards and reflects the effort that went into its production from vineyard management to bottle.

In our journey to blend the perfect Pinotage-based wine that meets all the criteria for greatness, we used four varieties. The 2019 Perold is a stylish wine with multi-layered aromas of fruit and spice followed by soft, silky tannins. Made in a modern style, it showcases the best of Pinotage’s vibrant fruit characteristics and gentle tannins that blend harmoniously with the other varieties.

With this unique Cape Blend the winemaking team pays tribute to Prof Abraham Perold by honouring his legacy not only at KWV but throughout the South African wine industry.

The 2019 season showed great promise with improved winter rains. However, variable weather conditions, with continuous temperature fluctuations, resulted in inconsistent bud break, uneven flowering and set.  Followed by slow and uneven ripening. Reds were most affected and overall yields were down. White varieties, except for the lower yields on Sauvignon Blanc, were as expected. The challenges are not without rewards: whites are bright and flavourful with good aromatics. Reds have soft tannins with rich fruit and generosity.

After fermentation, the most promising wines of each cultivar were chosen to mature further in barrel. After 12 months, the best wines were singled out and aged for another six months. This wine is truly about selecting the best-of-the-best.

Maturation:
The wine was matured for 18 months in first-fill French oak barrels.