Cellar Selection Pinotage 2021 6x75cl

A very elegant and easy drinking expression of Pinotage, the aroma reminds of mulberries and ripe plums, nuanced with a smoky undertone. The wine shows a lot of juicy red fruit on the palate with subtle floral and fynbos notes on the finish. An elegant and supple tannin structure will allow the wine to mature well over the next 5 years. This wine is delightful on its own but can be successfully paired with the quintessential smoky South African braaied meats as well as their vegetable alternatives, or even an aromatic curry.

Vineyards

The grapes for this blend come primarily from the Stellenbosch area and are blended with selected parcels from regions such as Durbanville. After four consecutive dry winter seasons, the excellent rainfall in 2019 did manage to offer some relief. The effect of additional water could be seen immediately in the vineyards, and we had a particularly good growing season with more vigour. This meant our viticulture team had to pay careful attention to canopy management to ensure even ripening and that healthy bunches are delivered to the winery on harvest day.

Vintage

Kleine Zalze concluded the 2021 harvest by mid-April. The wine is all safely in the winery and we are very happy with the vintage and extremely excited at this early stage about the exceptional wines that will flow from the 2021 crop, with our Chenin blanc probably leading the pack. Excellent winter rains and late rains into spring ensured good moisture content in the soil with the onset of the growing season. The prolonged cool spring weather meant that bud burst was about two weeks later than normal and slightly uneven. The subsequent moderate to cool weather during flowering and berry set continued into the rest of the growing season. The much cooler than normal growing season meant that we started harvest two weeks later than normal. The cool weather also persisted through the harvest period leading to not only exceptional acidity in the grapes and wine but the best acid balance ever seen in our grapes and wine. The harvest was briefly interrupted by a fairly large rain event, of nearly 60mm, early in March. This was initially a cause for some concern. However, moderate and dry weather following the rain actually ensured a long healthy ripening for our grapes and the late ripening varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, reached physiological ripeness at lower sugar levels than normal. All in all, the vintage resulted in wines that have amazing balance and finesse and what they may not have in power they will make up with great purity and elegance. We are really pleased with the season and look forward to sharing the wines we have made with you in the coming months and years.

Winemaking

After picking, the grapes were destemmed and transferred to tank for “whole-berry” fermentation. Half of the wine was fermented in open cement tanks with regular punch downs and pump overs to extract tannin and colour. The remaining half was fermented in closed stainless steel tank and pumped over every 8 hours. The wines were pressed before complete alcoholic fermentation to ensure soft tannins and avoid any over extraction. The wine was matured in 2nd and 3rd fill barrels for 12 months.

Enjoy with:

The wine will complement any summertime dish, try lightly chilled.