Stadsaal Cinsault

Ideal with white meat, charcuterie and lighter food.

Ideal winter conditions provided substantial rainfall to supplement water reserves, with good cold units throughout the winter months of 2021. Budbreak was slightly later than usual due to the cold winter. Rainfall in the spring was also good for our vineyards during the critical times of flowering and crop set. A warm January in 2022 with a few heat waves was good for ripening, especially the red varieties. Relatively dry summer months allowed for grapes to reach full phenolic ripeness, with a long hangtime for flavour development.

Maturation took place in seasoned 500L French oak barrels for 12 months.

Cinsault grapes were fermented in open top fermenters with 25% of the grapes left as whole bunches, and 75% destemmed and left as whole berry. The grapes were not crushed in order to capture fruit purity and varietal definition. Fermentation and maceration took place over a period of 7 days before pressing.

Jean Engelbrecht along with his friends Dillie Malherbe and Jannie Durand set out to create a wine that would not only embody all that is Stellenbosch but that would also pay homage to this great town at the heart of the Cape winelands. Each wine in this range pays tribute to an historical landmark in Stellenbosch.