La Motte Millennium 2010

Equal amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc dominate, to create the Bordeaux profile for which this wine is known. For the first time, though, Shiraz as added for more complexity and it is probably responsible for the hint of aniseed. The wine is intense on the nose, with cherry and mulberry fruit together with cinnamon spice. Wood maturation has enhanced a toffee and caramel presence. Very smooth and juicy on the palate.

Ideal with any sumptuous meal. Best served with red meats, game, roast and noble, matured cheese.

variety : Merlot [ 24% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, 16% Shiraz, 11% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot ]
winery : La Motte
winemaker : Edmund Terblanche
wine of origin : Walker Bay and Sbosch
analysis : alc : 13.86 % vol  rs : 2.9 g/l  pH : 3.51  ta : 5.8 g/l  
type : Red  style : Dry  body : Full   wooded
pack : Bottle  closure : Cork  

AWARDS
Decanter World Wine Awards 2012 - Bronze Medal
in the vineyard : Origin
This wine originates from vineyards in the Walker Bay  (54%), Swartland (32%), Elgin (7%) and Stellenbosch (6%) regions. Grapes from each of these regions make a unique contribution to the flavour components.

Vintage
Veterans in the wine industry described 2010 as one of the most difficult in their career. Winter conditions were not ideal for good budding further and, together with wind, bunch denseness was severely impeded. Wind caused physical damage, late rains caused fungus diseases, late dry conditions reduced the already light yield even further and a heat wave in March had a slightly negative effect on flavours.

Viticulture
Each vineyard grows in its own macro climate in a wide variety of soil types. Several clones are represented. All the vineyards are trellised according to the Perold system and managed to maintain a perfect balance between leaf coverage and yield. Thanks to the different terroirs, each region produces its own distinctive grapes, so grapes from each region make a unique contribution to flavour and structure. The grapes originating from Walker Bay are organically grown.

in the cellar : Before de-stalking, all the grapes were hand-sorted. The de-stalked grapes were cold-soaked for two to three days, followed by inoculation with selected yeasts. Fermentation was at between 25 and 30 °C. After fermentation the wine was left on the skins for a further 20 days to promote extraction and body. Malolactic fermentation was partly in barrels.

Maturation
The different components were matured separately for 16 months in 225-litre French oak barrels - 30% new and 70% older barrels (the barrels originate from different forests in France). Then blending followed.

20 000 cartons (6 x 750 ml) and 500 magnums were bottled on La Motte in November 2011, to be released as 2010 La Motte Millennium.

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OTHER VINTAGES

Merlot
Merlot
Cabernet Franc
Merlot
Merlot
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon