Pinotage Case

The grapes were hand harvested in small crates in the early hours of the morning to keep the grapes cool and preserve flavours. Grapes are cooled further overnight in our on-site cold room (3°C) and processed the following day. Bunch sorting as well as berry sorting is practiced to make sure only the best grapes are used in our wines. We make use of a Delta Oscillys De-stemmer with a very soft action. The grapes are rolled off the stems, preventing the extraction of harsh unwanted phenolics. The Pinotage was de-stemmed to a stainless-steel tank for a maceration period of 1-2 weeks. Once spontaneous fermentation started, the tank is inoculated with yeast. Pump-overs were done 3 times a day during fermentation. Post Fermentation, the wine was drained off the skins and lightly pressed with our inert Nitrogen Press. The wine was pressed to steel tank and after settling, racked to 500L French Oak Barrels (50% New, the remainder 2nd fill) where Malo-Lactic Fermentation took place.

The Bottelary Hills are extremely diverse in terms of terroir. A wide variety of different slopes, aspects, elevation above sea level, soils, and the influence of both the False Bay to the south, and the cold Atlantic in the west, make for a very intricate array of micro-climates. The Bottelary area forms part of granitic hills and the reddish- and yellowish- brown soils are highly suited to the production of quality wine grapes. The soils are acidic, have great water retention capabilities and are well drained. Soil types include Oakleaf, Tukulu, Hutton and Clovelly. Vineyards in the Bottelary Hills are planted at varying heights from 150m to up to 400m above sea level. All of these factors contribute to crafting unique, distinctive wines with a sense of place.

The wines were racked and returned once after MLF and then once more during the ageing period.