Shiraz

Game, ostrich, spare ribs, steak, roast beef, spicy lamb dishes.

Grapes selected from Franschhoek, Wellington and Breederiver Valley vineyards. Well-manicured and settled vines yielding 6-7 tons/ha. The Franschhoek grapes are planted in Hutton soils which consist of decomposed granite and shale soils with a north-easterly facing slope and a combination of clones 9 and 22B. The Walker Bay block borders on the Atlantic Ocean while the Wellington vineyards consists of clone 216 on US 8-7 rootstock in easterly facing Glenrosa soils. The westerly facing slopes of the Breederiver Valley are planted with clone SH99 on Mgt 101-14 rootstock in Glenrosa soils originating from shale. Grapes where harvested by hand between 24 - 25.5 ̊ Balling with good harvesting conditions throughout. Harvesting of the four respective vineyards took place between 12 February and 6 April 2014.

The wine was matured in 20% new and 80% older barrels for a total maturation time of 22 months before blending for bottling.

Fermentation took place in open fermentation tanks at 28 ̊C with two to four manual punch downs daily with 80% of the grapes left as whole bunches. Some tanks were inoculated with noble yeasts such as D254 and WE372 while most underwent natural fermentation. While fermentation was still taking place, the grapes were pressed gently up to 1.3 Bar pressure. The end of the fermentation and malolactic fermentation took place in small French oak barrels.

Rickety Bridge Winery is an historic Franschhoek wine estate. Situated in the renowned Franschhoek valley the food and wine capital of South Africa the Rickety Bridge winery and Country Manor House nestle against the hillside overlooking vineyards and the majestic Wemmershoek Mountains. The land dates back to 1694 when the farms were granted to the first French Huguenots who settled in the area.