The Journal Pinotage

Please note: Award stickers are applied at the producer's discretion and may not be present on all bottles.

The tight bunches of small berries, ideal for making wines of structure, elegance and refinement. Carefully hand harvested at 26 Balling. The grapes are crushed and fermented in 1-ton open French oak “kuipe” at 25-28C. Malolactic fermentation in older French oak barrels before racking. A portion whole berry fermentation resulted in intenseness and complexity on the nose.

The Durbanville 49-Year-old bush vines are rooted in deep red Hutton soils on north-facing slopes, catching the southerly breezes of summer and the frontal winds that punish the Cape from the north in winter. Cool growing conditions on exposed aspects, as well as the practise of dryland farming, sees the fruit develop slowly, drawing maximum variety expression on the vine. The result is tight bunches of small berries, ideal for making wines of structure, elegance and refinement.

The wine matured for 24 months in 100% new 225l French oak barrels.