Accolades
Decanter World Wine Awards 2011: Bronze Award.
Tasting Notes
A smooth and fruity red made from Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage. Lightly wooded with accessible fruit makes this a wine that can be enjoyed everyday.
Blend Information
38% Shiraz, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Pinotage
In The Vineyard
The wine was made from grapes that were produced on the farm Dekkersvlei in Klein Drakenstein near Paarl (approx 254 metres above sea level). The vines are trellised with drip irrigation with the yield approximately 10 tonnes per hectare.
In The Cellar
Yeast (Laffort Zymaflore F15 for Pinotage and Shiraz & Zymaflore F10 for Cabernet Sauvignon) was inoculated within 48 hours after crushing then fermented for 6 days on skins at an average temperature of 24 degrees C. Pressed at approx 2 degrees balling. Malolactic fermentation induced in tank and completed within four months. A small adjustment in acidity was made to the Shiraz and Pinotage using tartaric acid prior to barrel maturation.
The wine was lightly wooded using a mixture of French (for Pinotage & Cabernet) and American (Shiraz) oak barrels, mainly fourth fill for 18 months. The wine was only blended after barrel maturation using Shiraz (38%), Cabernet Sauvignon (37%) and Pinotage (25%). The blending policy is dependant on the percentage of the vintage not used for the cellar’s flagship wine (Mellasat M), hence this wine is the “Petit Vin” or second label.
After blending the wine was fined and racked from tank to tank. No filtering of the wine was undertaken except at bottling when a 5-micron filtration was used.
