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Ratings:
- GOLD Medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2005
- in the TOP TEN Merlots of South Africa at the Diners Club Winemaker
of the Year Award
- GRAPE, South Africa's independent Wine Viewpoint, January 2005: four
stars ****
- JOHN PLATTER
2005 (Wine guide South Africa) : four stars ****
Analysis:
Alc 13.7%Vol, TA 6.3 g/L, pH 3.6, T.extract 32.6 g/L, RS 2.1 g/L,
TSO2 53 mg/l
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Vintage report
A good cold dormant season -
after three unusually warm winters - promoted an even budding. Together with the
following ideal summer weather, an excellent fruit development was guaranteed,
promising an exceptional quality for the vintage 2003. Eager to implement our
new knowledge from the University, our tedious work in the vineyard aimed to
manicure each individual bunch to its optimal size and sun exposure. And in a
second round, just after veraison, every single bunch was again painstakingly
inspected for any green, late ripening berries, which were all mercilessly cut
out. This was eventually rewarded with a beautiful and exceptionally even crop
at optimal ripeness of 24 Balling and a good natural acidity of 6.5 g/l,
brought in on the 26th of February 2003. Twelve tons have been
harvested, yielding eventually 37 barrels of a wine of great potential.
The fruit was similarly processed as 2002. After selective hand picking, the
grapes were transported to the winery in small 15-kg-crates, in order to avoid
any damage to the berries. In the cellar, the fruit was again meticulously
sorted on a sorting table prior to the destemmer. Fermentation took place
in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, at a temperature of 28-31
degree C. Regular pumping over guaranteed
a gentle but thorough extraction of the fruit. After alcoholic fermentation, the new wine was left an
additional 10 days on the skins for further extraction, before being racked
into barrels (40% new). Beside the barrels of French oak, we used this year also
two barrels of American oak in an attempt to add further complexity.
10'300 bottles have been produced of this vintage.
At this stage, the wine impresses with a deep dark colour and a strong, healthy
structure, again with this typically fruity nose of cherry and fine notes of
vanilla and chocolate, on the palate with good concentration, still mouth
coating tannins and a long aftertaste - we can't wait to release it!
>>> back
>>> the 2002 vintage
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