Estate Blend

The Alto Estate Blend pairs perfectly with smoked red meat and beef fillet, as well as with mature cheese, rich poultry and Spanish or Italian style dishes.

A cool growing season following the cold, wet Cape winter of 2021 resulted in our grapes ripening slower than usual, allowing for more deeply concentrated flavours. This wine is made from grapes of north-facing vines, between 14 and 28 years old, that grow in decomposed granite soil situated at altitudes of 135m to 500m above sea level. The vines on the higher slopes are fanned by the cooling maritime breezes from nearby False Bay. A seven-wire Perold trellising system is used, which yielded an average of 7 tons per hectare.

Malolactic fermentation took place in barrel, racked once and matured for 18 months in 70% new French oak barrels.

The 3 grape varieties used in this blend ripen at different times and were harvested at 24° to 25° Balling. Each varietal was vinified separately and fermented on the skins for 7 to 21 days at 24° to 26°C in closed stainless-steel tanks. The fermenting mash was pumped over several times a day.

Alto is a historic Stellenbosch wine estate dedicated exclusively to red wine, with vineyards planted on the elevated slopes of the Helderberg since 1919. Best known for Cabernet Sauvignon and its classic red blends, Alto has built a century-long reputation for structured, full-bodied South African reds with impressive ageing potential.