International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) 2004 - Bronze
Very dark. Scarlet almost inky colour. Peppery, Spicy, herbacious with concentrated fruit on the nose. Firm and full yet soft and succulent, with excellent structure and plenty of fruit to support the wood.
The full-bodied character makes it a great partner to red meat like game dishes and stews, but also to veal and grilled linefish. An excellent red to drink on its own – with a few slices of biltong (air-dried South African meat or jerky or Buntner Fleisch) on the side.
in the vineyard : Since 1990, the cellar has produced a remarkable number of champion wines. The Shiraz (from grapes planted in 1987) has gradually gained more and more acclaim and is today one of the top notch Neethlingshof reds.
With its long, loose, medium-sized bunches of small, oval berries, ripening at about mid-season, the quality of Shiraz depends to a large degree upon where it is grown. Neethlingshof’s terroir, as has been established, is perfectly suitable for this variety. Grown on the slopes of the Bottelary Hills where the cool air from False Bay fans the vineyards during the warmest part of the day, the grapes which are brought to the cellar yield an outstanding, rich, deep-coloured Neethlingshof Shiraz with a fruity character and a typical smoky, scented bouquet that sets it apart.
in the cellar : The grapes were crushed and fermented on their skins for seven days using a selected, pure yeast culture, in rotation tanks at an average temperature of 27 degrees Celsius. After the completion of malolactic fermentation, the wine was left on its lees for a month for prolonged maceration before being matured in a combination of new and second-fill small, 225 litre oak barrels 32% American and 68% french oak for 22 months. The final blending of its components took place in April 2000 and was bottled in September 2002.