Friday, 20 October, 2017
Michael Olivier Communications
Warm weather resulted in earlier bud break and a warm, dry and windy summer regulated growth and accelerated ripening. Wines were above average in quality with exceptional analysis and flavour.
Rich with nutrients and red in colour, the Tukulu and Oakleaf soils of the Stellenbosch hillside from which this blend originates give the Delaire Graff Redstone its name. Usually on the upper slopes, Oakleaf soil has a dark organic topsoil with a deep red neocutanic subsoil. Lower down the soils are Tukulu, closely related to Oakleaf, and is also red to yellow in colour.
Morné has used the big five of Bordeaux and has made the blend up as follows, 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Malbec, 8% Petit Verdot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Merlot. The wine was made by the classical red wine methods and after blending spent 14 months in French oak barrels. Before being prepared for bottling.
It looks like
Bottled in a Bordeaux shaped dark glass bottle under a natural cork closure. Elegant livery as with all Delaire Graff wines. In the glass, a deep bloodplum at the core which pales out to ruby garnet at the meniscus.
It smells and tastes like
The aromas and tasted are so intertwined, what appears on the nose is generously repeated in the palate. Sweet brown spices, fynbos herbaceousness, generous blackcurrants and roadside brambles. There are touches of chocolate and vanillin from the toasted oak barrels. Full palate, rich and round and lovely and long.
It’s good with
The Delaire Graff Restaurant offers many dishes which will partner this wine brilliantly. Redstone is a wine which loves meat dishes, off the braai, out of a pan, from the oven or out of a casserole. Lusty vegetarian dishes with deep umami flavours will love the Redstone. You might want to start a meal off with Nadia Graves’s Duck Confit Crispy Spring Rolls, a great combination with the Redstone. Click here for her recipe.
Listen to my 90 Second Radio Today podcast - CLICK HERE | Read more about Delaire Graff Wine Estate - CLICK HERE
Read complete article online...