“This wine was made to honour my late father, Cyril Back, who introduced handcrafted winemaking at Fairview.” Charles Back
IN THE VINEYARD:
The fruit for the Cyril Back 06 was sourced from a dry farmed vineyard in Agter-Parl. The vineyard was planted in 1995, using Shiraz clone SH9A, grafted onto rootstock R110. The vineyard is on deep Glenrosa soils and is planted on a north-westerly facing rocky outcrop. The vines are pruned to a “bosstok” or bush vine. Depending on the vigour, the vine is pruned to between 3 and 5 bearers per vine. Summer canopy management includes a topping, which will reduce wind damage, as well as green cropping at 80% veraison to ensure even ripening.
HARVEST DATE:
Morning of 9 February 2006
WINEMAKING:
All the fruit was hand picked in mid February, based on phenolic ripeness at 26.2 degrees balling. The vineyard yield was 3.2 tons per hectare. The bunches were destalked and berry selections carefully carried out over sorting tables. The grapes were fermented in open 500l French oak casks, with fermentation allowed to start naturally. The fruit was inoculated after a few days, using the L2056 Rhone yeast strain. Fermentation and post ferment maceration meant that the wine spent approximately 20 days on the skins, resulting in deep colour extraction.
After this it was gently basket pressed and sent to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. The wine was matured for 24 months in 45% new French oak. The Cyril Back 06 was blended and bottled in May 2008 unfined, with a very light filtration. Total production was 16 barriques.
WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS:
This is the second vintage of Cyril Back and is a barrel selection of the top shiraz in our cellar from the 2006 harvest. The wine has bold tannins, which add to its rich character. However they are supple and evolved tannins, which I find really appealing in a wine of this style. The wine will be at its best from 2010 and will continue to evolve in the bottle until at least 2015. Anthony de Jager
TASTING NOTES:
Shy nose in its youth, showing subtle white pepper, anise and oak aromas. Full bodied structure, with firm yet well rounded tannins. Oaking is not overt, but sufficient to balance well with the overall mouthfeel and underlying fruit flavours. Will drink well from 2010.
RECOGNITION: PREVIOUS VINTAGE:
2005: 91 points – Wine Spectator
2005: Silver – International Wine Challenge 2007
WINE ANALYSIS:
Wine of Origin: Paarl
Alcohol: 14.5%
Residual Sugar: 3.2g/l
Total Acid: 5.9g/l
pH: 3.68
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