The wine shows an intense spicy nose of aniseed, clove and black pepper surrounded by black cherry and blue berry fruit. Some liquorice and toffee notes are present. The palate is full-bodied, chewy and juicy, with integrated wood tannin that creates a pleasant clean, dry finish.
Excellent with game, spicy pâtés, guinea fowl and roast beef or mutton.
variety : Shiraz [ 100% Shiraz ]
winemaker : Edmund Terblanche
wine of origin : Western Cape
analysis : alc : 13.75 % vol rs : 2.5 g/l pH : 3.55 ta : 5.7 g/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Medium taste : Mineral wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Origin
This wine originates from different vineyards in the Cape Wine lands: Swartland (30%), Walker Bay (20%), Franschhoek (20%), Elim (15%), Paarl (10%) and Stellenbosch (5%).
Vintage
A number of conditions caused lower yields - a long winter that affected flowering, very little rain during December and January which resulted in smaller bunches, a short heatwave early in December, causing damage to some unprotected bunches, and windy conditions that could have robbed vines from moisture. Temperatures lower than average delayed harvest-time by as much as two weeks. On the positive side, low temperatures and mild weather allowed for good flavour protection and slow ripening - ripening was at lower sugar levels, contributing towards the production of elegant, accessible wines.
Viticulture
Vineyards grow in their own unique macro climates and grow in a large variety of soils. Different clones are represented. All the vineyards are trellised according to a wire system and managed to maintain a perfect balance between leaf coverage and yield. Each terroir makes a unique contribution to the wine and each has a different harvest date. The grapes for this wine were harvested over a period of one month.
in the cellar : Bunches were de-stemmed and hand sorted. Whole berries were pumped to an open stainless steel tank, inoculated and cool fermented (20 - 24 degrees Celsius). During pumping over, high aeration was allowed. Malolactic fermentation started in the tank and finished in 300 litre French oak barrels, 30% of which were new. The wine was matured for 14 months, then blended, filtered and bottled.
The blend includes Grenache (3%), Cinsaut (2.5%) and Carignan (1%).
Production: 33000 x 6 cases x 750ml.