Black Pearl Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 from Paarl, South Africa, received 88pts from Tanzer

Tasting Notes

Winemaker’s Tasting Notes: Bright ruby red, high pitched aromas of plums, bitter chocolate and cedarwood. Integrated tannins, well balanced, full bodied with a long finish of currant, mint and a strong fynbos character.

Food Accompaniments

A CLASS ACT – A natural to pair with traditional meat dishes and hearty pastas. Our favorite: rack of lamb.

Awards, Reviews and other Notes

88pts, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Mar/Apr 05, #119 Bright ruby-red. High-pitched aromas of redcurrant and eucalyptus. Sweet, fat and deep, with currant and mint flavors enlivened by piney high tones and a strong fynbos character. Quite idiosyncratic but has sweetness and a rather suave texture.

Winemaker Notes

Viticultural practices:
Yields per acre: Average 3 tons per hectare
Cases produced: 440 x 12
Appellation: Paarl
Filtration and fining: None
Varietal composition: 100%
Wood treatment: 100% barrel matured; 60% new Nadalie French Oak
Length of barrel maturation: 12 months
Other Viticultural Notes: Black Pearl Vineyards is a single unirrigated vineyard on the slopes of Paarl Mountain. The 4.5 hectares of Shiraz (planted 1998) and 3 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon (planted 1999) thrive on deep, well drained Oakleaf soil. The high trellising system, severe pruning and canopy management are all managed to ensure low-yielding, stress free, phenolically ripe fruit. The adjoining land, we have made into a nature conservation area to preserve the last 4% of remaining renosterveld in the world. Being environmentally friendly is of utmost importance for us. Pest control is monitored rather than spraying chemicals, and our spray program for mildews uses chemicals with the least negative impact on the earth.
Winemaker's notes: Phenolically ripe grapes are handpicked, cooled before a gentle crushing, open fermented in 600kg lots, hand punched down three times daily, and put into the barrel at 5 degrees Balling to finish fermentation in barrel. The wine is racked three times before bottling a year later and is further aged in bottle for at least a year before release. We feel we have a special site and our goal is to bottle what comes from the vineyard. We add only yeast and minimal sulfur to the wine and take nothing out (i.e. unfined and unfiltered). Our goal is a limited edition, terroir driven wine that is drinkable now as well as able to mature further in the bottle.

Chemical Analysis

Price

SKU

Varietal

Alcohol: 14.5 %
pH: 3.7
Total Acid: 6.0
Residual Sugar: 2.8
Free/Total Sulfur: 30/80

$29.99

5396

Cabernet Sauvignon