Family Reserve Shiraz

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

Grapes were hand harvested early in the morning, de-stemmed and sorted before being transferred to stainless steel tank for fermentation. We played around with more whole bunching techniques and in some batches added ripe stems to the fermentation vessels to intensify the peppery aromas while supporting the finer fruit and floral notes in the wine. The superb structure in the wine was achieved through a combination of open and closed pump overs and careful monitoring to ensure the best balance possible.

The grapes for this wine were sourced from 3 different areas within Stellenbosch – Central Stellenbosch, Helderberg mountain and close to False Bay Faure region. The effect of the preceding three-year drought was still evident to us in the 2019 harvest, despite the higher rainfall during the season. This resulted in smaller crops over all for the 2018/2019 growing season. Irregular temperatures from winter to flowering led to some uneven ripening at the start of the season that was managed by removing any green or uneven bunches after véraison. The cool weather conditions towards the end of ripening constituted smaller berries, resulting in intensely flavoured, elegant wines.

Maturation took place for an average of 20 months in 65% new French oak barrels.