Platinum Pinotage

Berries were crushed and cold-soaked for 24 hours below 15°C, and then inoculated with suitable yeast to bring out the best of the varietal. The must was fermented in semi-open stainless-steel tanks with manual punch downs every 4 hours to extract the intense colour and flavours from the must. Fermentation took about 5 days at temperatures between 24-30°C. Total skin contact of 10days.

These 3ha of vines (planted in 2000) are drip-irrigated to ensure optimal ripening and trained on the 5-wire Perold trellis system. Vines are planted in soils consisting of weathered granite on clay and are on north facing slopes. The nearby Atlantic Ocean (False Bay) also has a cooling effect on the vineyards during the ripening season. Stellenbosch had another good winter with sufficient rain and cold for the vines to rest and build up reserves before the start of bud towards September. Cool and mild weather conditions prevailed until end Feb, which pushed the start of harvest out by 14days to the norm. Vineyard stress were minimal and fewer irrigation cycles was needed. End of Feb and through Apr there were a few hot spells broken up by cool days in between. These conditions led to cultivars ripen on their own time. Harvest only finished mid-April and crop yields were normal with the later varietals (Cab/Shiraz) down by 20%. Wine quality was very good overall.

The wine was aged for 18 months in a combination of 300L French(97%) and American oak barrels, of which 80% were new.