Description
The Fynbos Vineyard has well drained soils that are rich in clay and with the north facing slope results in a rich, generous wine.
Tasting notes
The Fynbos Vineyard has well drained soils that are rich in clay with north facing slopes that result in a rich, gorgeous, fleshy, generous wine. Nuanced and multi-layered – this vineyard produces wines with more depth and weight. The wine is perfumed and mineral with notes of soft white pear, stone fruit and bright citrus. This is a sumptuous wine whose fruit profile has both depth and breadth, and great structure that allows for significant ageing potential.
Winemaking
The Fynbos vineyard is, like its namesake, surrounded by Fynbos. Vines were planted in 2003 on predominantly gravel bed soils with underlying clay. This vineyard is fragrant and charming from the gravel beds yet with a richness from the clay.
Grapes were hand-picked before being whole bunch pressed. No settling enzymes were used, resulting in juice containing more solids. This wine was 100% wild fermented in a selection of 300L French oak barrels (25% new, the rest in 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill barrels). Lees stirring was done every 3rd week for 4 months to add complexity and texture. The wine remained on the lees for a total of 12 months with 14% malolactic fermentation to add richness and texture. Thereafter, the wines were racked and blended into 3rd fill 500L French oak barrel. The wine was fined and stabilised naturally for a period of 3 months before bottling.
Vintage Notes
A cool winter ensured good vine dormancy. Rainfall was low, similar to 2015 and 2016. Bud break and flowering took place in ideal warm sunny conditions, and although flowering was a little earlier than usual, crops were slightly bigger with exceptional fruit quality and concentration. An unusually cool December slowed down ripening and rain in January during veraison nourished the soils, enabling the vine to focus on ripening the fruit, rather than the foliage and root growth. Grapes were harvested from late February to mid-March. A drier year resulted in very low disease pressure, phenolic ripeness and pristine fruit with high natural acidity and an intensity of fruit flavours. The dry vintages provided the intensity whilst the cool spell in December prolonged the ripening period providing the signature elegance marked by the 2017 vintage.
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