Rietvallei Red Muscadel 2008

Deep red in colour, full-bodied, rich, yet gentle. A floral bouquet comes through on the nose, with typical raisiny sweetness and an intense flavour that lingers on the palate and follows through on the aftertaste while the acidity compliments and balances the sweetness. Additional bottle maturation gives excellent results.

Pair with noble cheeses and almost any desert...delicious with rich chocolate or strawberries & ice cream. Serve at room temperature (18ºC). Enjoy as an aperitif or as a winter warmer in front of the fireplace on a chilly evening

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variety : Muscat de Frontignan [ Muscadel ]

winery : Rietvallei Wine Estate

winemaker : Johnny Burger

wine of origin : Breede River

analysis : alc : 15.54 % vol rs : 182.3 g/l pH : 3.36 ta : 6.3 g/l va : 0.30 g/l so2 : 115 mg/l fso2 : 12 mg/l

type : Red body : Full

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

AWARDS

Veritas 2003 - Bronze
Michelangelo International Wine Awards 2003 - Gold

in the vineyard : This unique wine is made exclusively from the oldest Muscadel (Muscat de Frontignan) vines in South Africa, planted on Rietvallei Estate in 1908 by the second generation of the Burger family. The Muscadel is in the form of bush vines and consists of approximately a quarter of a hectare. At 95 years of age these bush vines have an extremely low yield, resulting in excellent fruit concentration.

about the harvest: The bush vines were harvested by hand at 28 °Balling (Brix),

in the cellar : This wine is still made according to the original Burger family recipe as passed down through the generations since 1864. Most of the traditional wine making techniques are also still followed to this day for this special wine, like the fermentation in open concrete tanks; the wetting of the cap by manual punch down every two hours during skin contact and brief fermentation; and finally the use of a hand operated basket press. You could really say that this wine is hand made.

After slight crushing taken to open concrete fermentation tanks. Here it was kept on the skins for two days for colour and flavour extraction. During this time the mash was worked every two hours by means of manual punch down and pump-overs. On day three the must naturally started fermenting and the free run must was drained and the wet skins pressed in a small basket press. The must was then immediately fortified with pure wine spirits and left on its fine lees for three months. The clean fortified wine was then racked from the lees and allowed to tank mature for a further 12 months before bottling. This maturation is essential for the marriage of the spirits and the wine.

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