al Pinotage 2001
“Although the Semillon was beautiful it was overshadowed by the excitement and joy of the birth of our gorgeous son Rourke. We pulled out the Chardonnay vineyards and replaced with Shiraz. We changed our winning recipe and added a touch of Semillon to the Sauvignon Blanc to make it even better. American Oak was banned forever on Nitida.”
Tasting Notes
“How’s the sweetish, warmth of this wine.” Definitely an “in your face” experience full of red fruit and smoothness - “a Wimbledon wine” with “strawberries”and a “creamy full mouth”. A touch of “toasted marshmellow” in the middle and “I know it’s clichéd, but it really has cedarwood and violets, that’s that typical “Nitida vegetative” thing again.” Drink with lamb on the spit or lamb anyhow.
Winemaker Comments
Our 2001 pinotage finally reached phenolic ripeness at a balling of 26 which gives a very full bodied wine with fantastic deep flavours and big mouth feel. This is our cult wine and we seldom enter it for competition- so were we surprised when it was rated “top 100 wines at the SA Trophy Wine show” - maybe we should enter it more often. Pre-fermentation cold-soak gives nuttiness and good colour 100% open fermenter, cap punched through by hand every 4 hours. Fermentation at 30 degrees to enhance cultivar flavours and colour extraction. We now understand how to moderate and integrate our ‘touch of eucalyptus’ better and have avoided any processes that would give us the bitterness often found in this cultivar.
