Shiraz

First the fermenters are loaded with 25% whole bunches by hand before the remaining capacity of the tank is filled with destemed and crushed fruit. Grapes are left to cold soak for 24 hours before being inoculated with specially selected yeasts. Fermentation took place in stainless steel and wooden upright (foudre) fermenters. Pump-over’s, dellastage and punching down of the cap were implemented twice a day for extraction until fermentation was completed. The tanks were given maceration post fermentation in some cases, depending on tannin development. The wines were put to barrel for malolactic fermentation after which they were racked, sulphured and returned to barrel for further maturation.

The grapes for this wine come from the Stellenbosch and Durbanville regions. The vineyards crop at between 8 and 12 t/ha. The grapes were handpicked at optimal ripeness with sugars between 22 and 24.0 degrees brix and acidities ranging from 5.3 to 6.5 g/l.

The wines spend a total of ten months in barrel, 20% of which is new French barriques with the balance being 2nd to 5th fill barriques. After which the batches are blended and then kept in stainless steel for a further 6 months before being filtered and bottled. The wine was bottled in May 2022.