Mountain Red

Particularly good with light and medium flavoured meals, such as pizza or a braai (barbeque).

A dry, moderate season ensured balanced vine growth and an even ripening cycle. Although yields remained modest, the vintage delivered fruit of excellent purity and structure, contributing to wines with solid aging potential. The depth of flavour is clear, as the red cultivars reached ideal phenolic and physiological ripeness.

The wines age gracefully in place for 18 months and receive only one racking during this period. After tasting through all the individual lots our winemaking team decides on the final blend, the barrels are emptied into the tank farm and the wines are prepared for bottling.

The grapes were gently de-stemmed, retaining as many whole berries as possible, after which a displacement pump takes the fruit to its fermentation tank. The tanks are then inoculated with a specific commercial yeast strain, this way insuring the development of the perfect flavour profile. Fermentation is done in stainless steel fermenters, and a combination of aerative pump overs and punch down techniques are used to ensure optimal colour, tannin, and flavour extraction. Once fermentation is complete the wine is drained off the skins and moved to a holding tank to be barrelled down. Malolactic fermentation takes place in the barrels.

In 1983 Gyles Webb and his wife's family purchased a run-down fruit farm at the top of the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch where they established Thelema Mountain Vineyards. At a time when the South African wine scene was focused on quantity rather than quality Webb was a trailblazing pioneer on a mission to craft world-class wines. Construction began on the winery in 1987 and Thelema produced its first vintage in 1988. Situated on the slopes of the Simonsberg Thelema occupies mainly south-facing aspects that afford spectacular views of the Simonsberg Drankenstein and Jonkershoek mountains. Elevations ranging from 370 to 640 meters above sea-level make the 157-hectare estate one of the coolest and highest wine farms in Stellenbosch.