The Millennium of this vintage is the first since 1998 to have Merlot as its base. On the nose, the wine has plum and cherry flavours, integrated with roasted nut and dark chocolate. The palate shows prominent wodd aromas together with toffee and toast, with integrated tannins that create a pleasant mouth-feel.
Complements any sumptuous meal. Best served with red meats, game, roast and noble, matured cheese.
variety : Merlot [ 41% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec ]
winemaker : Edmund Terblanche
wine of origin : Coastal
analysis : alc : 14.6 % vol rs : 2.5 g/l pH : 3.7 ta : 5.6 g/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Full wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Origin
This wine originates from vineyards in the Walker Bay, Swartland, Franschhoek, Darling and Stellenbosch regions. Grapes from each of these regions make a unique contribution to the flavour components.
Vintage
It was a late and very cold winter, with heavy snowfalls in and around Franschhoek. Budding was even and due to the damp soil caused by the late winter, favourable growing conditions were experienced during spring. Summer conditions were relatively cool and dry, with the result that grapes were picked two weeks later than usual. Only one heat wave, on 4 January, was an abnormal condition during an otherwise perfect season.
Throughout the season there was little cause for disease and grapes were very healthy. With the wine consisting of five varietals, all optimally ripe at different times, the grapes were harvested over a period of two months, the Malbec first and the Cabernet Sauvignon last.
Viticulture
The vineyards all have unique macro climates and grow in a large variety of soil types. All the vineyards are trellised according to the Perold system and managed to be perfectly balanced in leaf cover and yield. Thanks to the different terroirs, each area produces grapes with specific characteristics, allowing the wines from each area to make a unique contribution in flavour and structure.
in the cellar : The de-stalked grapes were cold-soaked for two to three days, followed by inoculation with selected yeasts. After fermentation, the wine was left on the skins for a further 20 days for extra extraction and roundness. Malolactic fermentation occurred partly in the barrels.
Maturation
For 18 months, the different components were matured separately in 225-litre French oak barrels - 50% new and 50% older barrels - originating from various forests in France. The components were then blended.
4,500 Cartons (12 x 750ml) were bottled at La Motte on 5 December 2005 for release as 2004 La Motte Millennium.