This wine has a beautiful claret colour. There are aromas of brambleberry coulis, dark cherry and subtle cassis on the nose complimented by underlying notes of raw tobacco and baking spices. The palate is packed with delicious dark fruit interwoven in spice and light toasty notes from the barrels. A tannin profile reminiscent of silky dark chocolate with poised freshness round off the finish.
Viticulture
All the grape originated from Tokara's vineyards in Stellenbosch. The vineyards yielded between 3 and 12 t/ha. The grapes were handpicked at optimal ripeness at sugars between 24 and 26 brix and acidities between 4.8 & 7.0 g/l.
Vinification
Hand-picked grapes were destemmed before passing across a sorting table for the removal of all unwanted material and then crushed directly into stainless steel tanks and wooden upright (foudre) fermenters. The must was cooled to between 10 and 15°C for a cold soak
before fermentation started naturally. Pump-overs, dellastage and punching down of the cap were implemented twice a day for extraction until the fermentation completed. The tanks were given maceration post fermentation depending on tannin extraction and development. The wines were put to barrel for malolactic fermentation after which they were racked, sulphured and put back to barrel for a further maturation. The wines spent a total of nineteen months in 18% new French oak and the rest being older French oak barriques – all 225L format. During the maturation the components were racked twice whereafter the wine was blended in tank and returned to barrel to homogenise and mature further. The wines received a light fining before filtration and bottling in November 2018. 95 800 bottles produced
Recommendation
Enjoy with lightly smoked Springbok carpaccio, grilled veal chops, meaty stews or a fantastic steak. This wine will drink well now but will benefit from cellaring.