Spice Route Pinotage 2011

Name: Spice Route Pinotage 2011
Brand: Spice Route
SKU: 33064

Winemaker's Comments
"Pinotage is truly at home in the Swartland and this vineyard proves this point year after year. 2011 was an excellent vintage and shows in the complexity and longevity of the wine."
- Charl du Plessis

A burst of ripe plum and raspberry on the nose with sweet spice and hints of beetroot. Fresh red fruit continue onto the palate and refined tannins add age-worthy structure to the wine. Medium bodied with sweet and smoky cherry tobacco on the finish.

variety : Pinotage [ 100% Pinotage ]

winery : Spice Route Winery

winemaker : Charl du Plessis

wine of origin : Swartland

analysis : alc : 14.0 % vol rs : 2.0 g/l pH : 3.73 ta : 5.9 g/l

type : Red body : Full wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

in the vineyard : Five centuries ago the ancient mariners braved uncharted seas to round the Cape of Good Hope in search of exotic spices. Their nerve and dash inspire the Spice Route philosophy. We have found our signature wine style in the rolling hills along the Cape’s West Coast, where unirrigated vines produce grapes with small thick skinned berries – ripe fruit that is dense, rich and full flavoured. A passionate dedication to exceptional quality and traditional hand crafting captures the essence of this fruit in the wines of the Spice Route.

The fruit for the Spice Route Pinotage 2011 is sourced from a block at the Rheeboksfontein vineyards in the Swartland. The vines are grown on deep red Oakleaf soils. This vineyard has continued to provide exceptional quality fruit, and has been used since the inception of the Spice Route label. The vineyard is trellised and is dryland farmed and typically provides Pinotage with rich dark fruit flavours.

about the harvest: The Pinotage was harvested at 26.3° Balling and the vineyard yielded 8 tons per hectare in 2011.
Harvest Date: Late February 2011.

in the cellar : The ripe Pinotage bunches were fermented in 5 ton open concrete fermentation vats, at our cellar outside Malmesbury. The cap was manually punched down twice daily, extracting deep colour and flavour. The wine was pressed off and transferred to American oak barrels, with full malolactic fermentation allowed in barrel. The wine was matured for 16 months in 225L American oak barrels. 50% new barrels were used, with the remainder being 2nd to 4th fill.

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