A cool climate style Sangiovese, with grapes mainly from vineyards near Darling. Lovely focused fruit flavours and a clean, food-friendly acidity.
IN THE VINEYARD
Grapes are sourced from our Darling farm. The vines are on a trellis system that is very low to the ground. This creates a vine that is very similar to a bush vine, but with the benefit of improved air circulation around it. This helps to keep the grapes cool and healthy. The vines grow on koffieklip soils and the vineyard is farmed unirrigated.
HARVEST DATE
19 February 2008
WINEMAKING
The grapes were hand picked in the early morning, ensuring that the fruit arrives at the cellar at a cool temperature. Fruit was harvested at 25.2 degrees balling. The bunches were destalked and sent to stainless steel tanks for fermentation. By not crushing the grapes, the berries were kept as intact as possible, encouraging fresher fruit flavours. After the ten day primary fermentation the wine was racked off and pressed, before being returned to tank for malolactic fermentation. The wine was sent to older French oak barrels for 12 months. older barrels were used to complement rather than overpower the fruit.
WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS
The cooler vines at Darling are well suited to Sangiovese. The wines from this area are lighter in style and provide a good contrast to the wines from our warmer vineyards at Paarl and in the Swartland. Although a lighter style, the wine shows good complexity, with silky tannins and a clean acidity, making it an excellent food partner.
TASTING NOTE
Lively, soft ruby colour. Fresh cherry aromas with hints of clove spices. Mouthfeel is silky with fruit following through well and soft tannins lead to a clean, juicy finish.
WINE ANALYSIS:
Wine of Origin Coastal
Alcohol 14.11%
Residual sugar 2.6 g/l
Total acid 5.5 g/l
pH 3.52
Do you like this? Share It!
