South Africa / Stellenbosch & Elgin
Add to my wine list2019 Tokara Directors Reserve Red
Tokara
Stellenbosch & Elgin
Displaying an appealing red claret colour with an intense centre and a ruby rim. The nose showcases complex aromas including ripe red and black berry fruit with hints of creamy cassis, cedar wood and toasted oak. The wine enters the palate with incredible purity and focus. Flavours are those of dark cherry, blackberries and ripe plum skin. Sumptuous and full there is a pleasant hint of spice on the mid-palate which leads to fine, firm tannins on the finish.
Viticulture
The grapes originated from Tokara’s premium vineyards on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountains outside of Stellenbosch.
Only grapes from the best blocks and from the best parts of these blocks were used. The average yield is between 5 and 10 t/ha. The grapes were hand-picked at optimal ripeness between the 21st of February and the 3rd of April.
Vinification
The grapes were de-stemmed, before first passing across a mechanical sorting table and then a further hand sorting table before being crushed directly into tanks for fermentation using gravity feed and no pumps. There is a period of cold maceration for up to 5 days before the fermentation starts spontaneously (without the use of selected yeast strains). The grapes were fermented in stainless steel and wooden upright (foudre) fermenters.
Pump-overs, délestage and punching down of the cap were implemented twice a day for extraction until fermentation was complete. The tanks were given maceration post fermentation if the quality and tannin profile of the wine warranted it. The wine was put to barrel for malolactic fermentation after which it was racked, sulphured and put back to barrel for further maturation.
The wine spent a total of twenty-two months in 54% new French oak - the rest being older French oak barrels.
During maturation the wines received four racking’s, all done barrel to barrel. The wine was bottled in January 2021 without fining and a light filtration.
Recommendation
Grilled ribeye steak served with Béarnaise sauce, and potato Dauphinoise.