ab Matriarch in red 2010
““Fabulous weather made up for a mechanically challenging harvest. The incredibly cool February gave us another brilliant Sauvignon Blanc. Even the slight heat wave in March was useful for ripening the reds conveniently balanced by light rains which spaced our cultivar pickings nicely. The year brings a new Chardonnay and a very exciting “white” MCC (launch 2011) into the range. Bernhard bought 3 new tanks which somewhat eased RJ’s juggling act with cellar space. Kerry joined our team in February and Version2 of our Nitida website went live.””
Tasting Notes
Liquid Legato. A naughty picnic in a spicy fynbos forest. Think mulberry crumble, charcuterie and paw paw dipped in dark choc or freshly tilled earthworms and ripe plums. Not too shabby with rare roast beef at the pool.
Winemaker Comments
When Nitida produced its first red cap classique in 2000, we were one of the first and only producers in South Africa. Now, give or take a couple, there are about 3 of us, and together we struggle to fulfil the market demand – a measure of the success of this somewhat quirky wine. We started off making small quantities as a fun venture and have over the years increased our production substantially. Our annual presence at the Franschhoek Cap Classique Festival is always greatly anticipated by our fans who flock to our stall to try the new vintage of this cult wine. Making a red cap classique is a high risk venture. As with any other red wine, the grapes are harvested, crushed, de-stemmed and then fermented in open vat fermenters. Then it goes into barrels for 9 months, unprotected by sulphur which would inhibit secondary fermentation, (initiated by lifting sugars and adding yeast). After a further 10 months on the lees it is finally degorged and corked. The wine has to be in perfect health throughout the nearl
