Perfumed with a floral nose of rose petals, intense aromas of red fruit, red cherry, raspberries and underlying spice notes. Vibrant acidity and fine grained chalky tannins make this a powerful and exceptional age worthy wine.
By Iona
2020 Iona Nebbiolo D’Elgin
R218.40
The vibrant acidity and fine grained chalky tannins make this an exceptional age worthy wine.
-
Description
-
Accolades
Accolades
TIM ATKIN MW 2023 SOUTH AFRICA SPECIAL REPORT [ 93/100 ]
-
Technical Details
Technical Details
ALCOHOL 13.2% RESIDUAL SUGAR 2.0 g/l TOTAL ACIDITY 5.9 g/l PH 3.5 -
Winemaking
Winemaking
Grapes were hand harvested into small crates and spent overnight in a cold room. Extensive bunch sorting by hand prior to destemming occured. Bunches were destemmed without crushing. Grapes were cold soaked for 5-7 days prior to the start of fermentation. Fermentation occured naturally in open top fermenters. A combination of gentle punchdowns and pumpovers by hand 2 times per day, depending on requirements, were used during fermentation where the temperature peaked at 28°C. The wines were transferred to 500L and 300L French oak barrels where malolactic fermentation took place (15% new wood, the rest 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill). Maturation in oak was for 16 months, on the lees for the full period. After ageing for 16 months in barrel, the wines were racked and blended in stainless steel tank. The wines were clarified naturally for a period of 2 months before bottling.
-
Vintage Notes
Vintage Notes
The season started with a cool June month and average rainfall, followed by the warmest July on record (3°C warmer than the long-term avg.) and well below the long term average rainfall. This resulted in very early budding. The warm July was followed by a cold August and September (both months about 2°C cooler than previous year) with some frost at the start of budding. This led to uneven budding. Strong winds towards the end of October and November resulted in a lengthy and uneven flowering period with reduced crop levels and berry size. December and January was characterised by cool growing conditions, with January being especially cool. Overall, the growing season was extremely dry. Harvest started on the 4th of March – one of the earliest experienced at Iona. Towards the end of harvest three days of rain increased disease pressure and it made our investment in a state of the art Bucher Oscillys destemmer worth every cent. Sorting was crucial this year and the fruit that remained shows wonderful intensity of fruit concentration. It’s tough years like this that makes us better farmers.
