variety : Pinotage [ 100% Pinotage ]
winemaker : Beyers Truter
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 15.0 % vol rs : 2.28 g/l pH : 3.57 ta : 5.47 g/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Full taste : Fruity
pack : Bottle size : 750ml closure : Cork
in the vineyard : We had a dry winter and spring with relatively normal cold units. Budding of the vineyards started slightly earlier than normal due to a warm start to spring, with ideal growth conditions up until the last month of the year. In December, we had much-needed rain, which helped with vineyards’ water reserves before harvest. The bad news was that, in December and early January, there was high disease pressure in the vineyards.
The harveststart ed 7 days earlier than 2022 at the Beyerskloof cellar, with Pinotage and Pinot Noir being the first grapes picked. February flew by with everything ripening at the same time, and by the end of the month, all the Pinotage was in the cellar. The end of February and March brought a lot of rain, and it made it very difficult to decide when the optimum time to harvest our Merlot and Cab’s was. In the end, we had to make hard calls during the end of the harvest, but we are pleased with the quality of the late cultivars. This was by far the wettest and toughest harvest of my career in terms of pickingthe grapes at optimum ripeness. Even though it was one of the most challenging vintages, we still had an above-average yield and great wines in the cellar!
in the cellar : 4 days in open fermenters with the cap punched through by hand every two hours. Fermentation temperature was between 25 – 28°C. A er malolactic fermentation, the wine matured in 30% new and 70% second fill barrels for 18 months.