2021 De Grendel Amandelboord Pinotage
£20.00 / Per Bottle
A wine with ripe,soft tannins that is made to last. Bright purple edge with an intensely dark core. Cherry tobacco and Christmas spice of cloves and cinnamon abound. On the palate, this mediumbodied wine delivers flavours of sour cherry, cocoa, Cedar wood and fresh plums.
120 in stock
Varietals
100% Pinotage
Winemaker’s notes
- Vintage
The season presented a cold winter and a cold spring with good rainfall and a very moderate growing period during summer. This resulted in a later-than-usual harvest and grapes were harvested 14 days later compared to 2020.
- Viticulture
The Pinotage vineyards are planted inwelldrained blue, broken shale at 250 metres above sea level on the Western slope of the Tygerberg 7 kilometres from, and in sight of, the Atlantic Ocean. Employing the VSP trellis system, a typical harvest produces 7 to 8 tons per hectare.
- Vinification
Grapes were hand-picked just before dawn, then crushed and open-fermented while undergoing pneumatic punchdowns four times a day. The wine was basket-pressed and transferred to tanks for malolactic fermentation. On completion of MLF, the wine was racked and transferred to 225 litre barrels to mature for 12 months in a combination of French and American Oak of which 12% was newoak
Traditional South African fare such as braaivleis (BBQ), wildspotjie (game stew), Cape Malay bobotie (an oven-baked dish of spiced mince and dried apricots topped with an egg-custard), biltong (beef jerky) and samp with beans will be a true delight to enjoy with Pinotage. Non-conformists can try Pinotage with sushi, especially sashimi with pickled ginger and soy sauce to complement the spicy and umami flavours ofthewine.
Pinotage has exceptional ageing potential. The wine is ready to enjoy now but has an ageing potential of 8 to 10 years to allow for further development.
| Platter’s Guide 2023 | 93 Points (4 ½ Stars) |
