in the vineyard : The 2001 SMV is possibly the only Rhone style blend of this kind in the world. The grapes are grown at Fairview on the southwestern slopes of Paarl Mountain. Fairview is one of the only producers of Mourvedre in South Africa, though the grape has a history here, it haing been one of the grapes in our national mix 100 years ago. The Mourvedre of old was replaced with such varieties as Chenin and Colombard, but is now having a worthy resurgence. Fairview is also the leading Viognier producer in South Africa. We have also planted both of these varieties on our farm in Malmesbury. The blend is 76% Shiraz, 21% Mourvedre and 3% Viognier.
in the cellar : This allowed us to crush the three together. The must was cold soaked for a week, before fermentation started. Rhone yeast strains were selected for this wine. The wine was transferred directly to a mix of new and second fill French and American barrels where malolactic was completed. The wine spent 14 months in barrel and was bottled with a light polishing filtration.