White Series Simonsberg Red Blend

This wine is excellent on its own but pairs brilliantly with a variety of red meat dishes such as braised lamb with a cranberry reduction, pepper-crusted steak and plum-glazed duck breast.

The grapes were harvested from the slopes of the Simonsberg mountain, where they grow in north-facing vineyards that get a cool Atlantic breeze in the summer months. The vineyards have been planted in granite soils that rest on thick layers of shale. These iron-rich soils protect the vines from the very dry and hot summers and also allow for the development of bold flavours.

The different wines were left to age in a variety of French oak and concrete vessels for about 21 months, whereafter they were expertly blended and bottled. The 2020 Simonsberg Red Blend was bottle-aged for two years before it was released.

The cultivars were all harvested separately and then processed into different stainless-steel tanks, French oak barrels and open concrete fermenters. Each cultivar was vinified separately so that the winemaker could create an optimum blend. At first, punch downs were done four to five times per day, then during the last third of the fermentation period, gentle pump-overs were performed. The wines were left on their skins for 21 days of post fermentation maceration before pressing took place. This was followed by malolactic fermentation in barrels for optimal oak integration.

The name Quoin Rock found its inspiration from the Agulhas area the most southern tip of Africa where Quoin Point is the second most southernly point and where Quoin Rock Wines’ conservation farm Boskloof is located. Ships rounding the cape on their way back from or to markets in the east from the mid-1400’s to these modern times would stop over at the cape of good hope — todays Table Bay Harbour Cape Town to replenish their boats with fresh produce. Farms like Quoin Rock would rush produce to the harbour and from the late 1660’s wines from South Africa started forming part of the goods delivered to the port. Now just over 350 years later South African wines are still exported from Table Bay harbour. While wine production is the main activity at Quoin Rock in Stellenbosch the Agulhas farm Boskloof focuses on conservation. Bontebok springbok eland and zebra have been reintroduced to this area.