Syrah 393

Enjoy with slow roasted pork belly, venison or mushroom casserole.

Winter rainfall was higher than previous two vintages, but about average and slightly warmer than average. Bud break was rather uneven and required additional attention to foliage management during the growing period. A relatively cool wet spring, which continued throughout much of the growing season. The high fungal pressure required adhering diligently to a suitable spray programme throughout the season. Regular rainfall and low day and night temperatures during the ripening period meant there was no water stress and ripening was gentle and slow. A challenging, but exciting vintage with good acidity and a more elegant style. Harvest date: 11/2/19 to 20/2/19 @ 22 balling

Time in barrel 20 months with only 2 gentle rackings. This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered by hand.

Handpicking into 20 kg crates. Destemming and gentle crushing directly into small 2 ton open top fermentation tanks with 10% whole bunches. Spontaneous natural yeast fermentation @ max. 30°C with the cap of skins punched down manually 1 - 3 times a day for 14 days. 1/3 whole bunch fermented for 1 month in oak foudre. Wine drained directly to barrels together with single pressing from traditional basket press. Malolactic fermentation in the barrel. 30% new fine grained, slow toasted small French oak was used in the first year and old 700L oak in the second year.

A small family winery at the end of the Upper Blaauwklippen Road in the mountains above Stellenbosch South Africa. Established in 1992 by architect David Trafford & artist wife Rita with the focus on high end red wines of great intensity & longevity using minimal intervention production methods.