This wine originates from different vineyards in the Cape Winelands: Walker Bay (50%), Franschhoek (30%), Swartland (15%) and Paarl (5%).

Veterans in the wine industry described 2010 as one of the most difficult in their career. Winter conditions were not ideal for good budding. Cold and rain hampered budding further and, together with wind, bunch denseness was severely impeded. Wind caused physical damage, late rains caused fungus diseases, late dry conditions reduced the already light yield even further and a heat wave in March had a slightly negative effect on flavours.

The vineyards all have unique macro climates and grow in a large variety of soil types. Different clones are represented. All the vineyards are trellised on a wire system and managed to maintain a perfect balance between leaf coverage and yield. Each terroir makes a unique contribution to the wine and each has a different harvest date. The grapes for this wine were harvested over a period of one month.

Grapes were picked when still firm, but ripe. The bunches were de-stemmed and hand-sorted. Whole berries were pumped into an open stainless steel tank, inoculated and cool-fermented (20 – 24 degrees Celsius), while pumping over allowed thorough aeration. Malolactic fermentation started in the tanks and finished in 300-litre French oak barrels (30% new). The wine was matured for 14 months, then blended, filtered and bottled. The blend includes Grenache (5%), Temperanillo (5%), Cinsaut (3%) and Carignan (2%). 20 000 cases (6 x 375 ml) were produced.

Optimal Shiraz terroir, timely picking (at the correct ripeness), and blending with complementary varieties ensure that this is a wine of balance, complexity, freshness and finesse. On the nose there are typical Shiraz aromas of aniseed, nutmeg and white pepper, together with raspberry fruit. The savoury, fresh palate makes this wine most enjoyable.

Alcohol 13,75% vol
Residual sugar 3,3 g/l
Total acid 5,7 g/l
pH 3,46