Full Berry Fermentation Pinotage

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We have developed an approach which we are calling Full Berry Fermentation; de-stemming, keeping the berries fully intact, spontaneous, wild fermentation occuring inside the unbroken skins of the berries, with the effect of minimal skin contact, in turn coaxing-out a gentler, more textural nature.

We work with two vineyards for this Pinotage, one based in Northern Stellenbosch and the other in Voor Paardeberg, approaching 20 years old respectively. The former on sandy and very heavily decomposed quartz and granite soils, the latter on weathered, granite derived soils. In 2019, the effects of the preceding 3 year drought in the Western Cape are still evident and have resulted in smaller than usual crop levels. We experienced a fairly cool ripening period in December and January, especially during the evenings, resulting in very even and slow ripening. Cool nights promoted deeper colour and improved phenolic development than in 2018, which was a much more compressed vintage by comparison.