Mixed berry, herb and toast notes on this red blend from Stellenbosch, South Africa

Tasting Notes

Winemaker's Tasting Notes: Wine characters reflect ‘lemon’ of the Helderberg sub region of Stellenbosch. Mint and chocolate – much more than varietal characters.
Deep red colour. Intense chocolate, coffee and blackberry fruit aroma’s gently supported by nutty, spicy oak. Rich berry fruit and chocolate dominate the palate with fine, yet firm tannins and a long choc-mint finish. Aging potential: 5 - 10 years.

Food Accompaniments

Beef; Mediterranean Lamb skewers, roasted potato wedges with Verjuice Aioli.

Awards, Reviews and other Notes

86pts, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Mar/Apr 05, #119 Ruby-red. Plum, currant, smoke, herbs and licorice on the nose; I would never have identified the shiraz component, which comprises 75% of this blend. Then bright but quite dry in the mouth, with juicy currant, licorice and mint flavors. Finishes with dusty tannins and hints of licorice and fresh herbs.

Winemaker Notes

Winemaker: Chris Kelly
Maturation Potential: Drinking very well now, or develop further character with several years of bottle maturation.
Viticulture Notes: Vines are grafted on rootstocks 101-14 Mgt, Richter 99 and Richter 110, depending on the potential of the soil (weathered granite) and planted on Southern slopes, facing the Atlantic Ocean. This terroir ensured a cool moderate ripening period that led to complex fruit- characteristics in the grapes. Grapes were harvested at 24ºB at the end of February and early March. Average age of the vines differ between 9 to 30 years, with an average yield of 7 ton/ha, all of these vines are trellised on a 5-wire hedge system
Oak Maturation: 15 Months - 80% small French oak barrel (of which 50% was new) and 20% in small American oak barrels.

Chemical Analysis

Price

SKU

Varietal

ALCOHOL: 13.5%
pH: 3.65 g/l
SUGAR: 2.14 g/l
ACIDITY: 5.97g/l

$8.99

4714

Red Blend