Shiraz

Excellent with red meat dishes like gilled sirloin or lamb chops with rosemary, it also pairs well with herb roasted chicken, venison loin or a cheese and charcuterie platter.

2021 was a cool harvest season, we had average winter rainfall in 2020 and good, dry ripening conditions. The grapes for this wine came from vineyards planted in decomposed Table Mountain sandstone with clay under-layer on a north westerly slope, situated some 200m above sea level. The vines are trellised on a seven-wire trellising system. They yielded 8 tons per hectare.

After malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged in wood for 16 months, using a combination of first, second and third fill French oak barrels.

The grapes were harvested by hand at 24 Balling in mid March. After de stalking and crushing, the juice was fermented for 10 days on the skins in stainless steel tanks at 25 to 27 C. 10% of the blend was whole bunch fermented separately and blended back to the final wine. We uses a pump over system.

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.