Grape varieties: A blend of Touriga Nacional 44%, Tinta Roriz 44% & Tinta Barroca 12%
Winemaker observations
Colour: Vibrant red.
Bouquet: Ripe plum & spice aromas.
Taste: Our Calitzdorp Red Blend. (A blend comprising not less than 70% Calitzdorp planted, Portuguese cultivars!). A palate of berry fruit, hints of cinnamon spice, finishing with savoury & gentle tannins. Chai!
Food pairing: This wine will develop in the bottle for some years and will go well with winter dishes; Moroccan chicken, Lamb shanks on a bed of lentils, Chicken Cacciatore! Or just pour a glass and enjoy it on its own!
Winemaking
Fruit from the Axe Hill vineyard and neighbouring blocks used for this blend is normally harvested during the course of February, with sugar levels at around 23ᴼ to 24ᴼ Balling.
Hand harvest & sorting starts early in the morning to ensure grapes arrive at the cellar as cool as possible. Grapes are then crushed into open concrete lagares, aka “kuipe”, which provide excellent thermodynamic stability for even temperature fermentation.
Fermentation takes place over 5 or 6 days. Inoculation takes place with commercial yeast, but generally after a period of initial wild yeast fermentation.
Towards the end of alcoholic fermentation (AF), free run wine is transferred to the tank and the skins are pressed, and juice added to the free run portion if the winemaker is satisfied with the resulting wine. After a brief period in tank, the wine is transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation (MF), after which the wine is racked off the MLF lees and returned to selected oak barrels, some newer oak, for ageing. Bottling takes place between 12 & 18 months after harvest. The bottled wine undergoes further ageing in our cellar before it is ready for the market!
Wine analysis
Alcohol: 13.5%
pH: 3.59g/l
TA: 5.6 g/l
RS: 3 g/l
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