STORM POINT RED BLEND (750ML)

About

The weathered landscape of South Africa is the result of millions of years of battering storms. Storms that stirred in the waters off of the ‘Cape of Good Hope.’ That name is recent as historically it was known as the ‘Cabo das Tormentas’ or ‘Cape of Storms.’ In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias made the first modern rounding of the cape. Hundreds of previous attempts were made but the rugged lands of South Africa were protected by the rough seas and punishing storms. This ‘Storm Point’ remains a fabled place to this day.  The unruly landscape and intense growing season of the Swartland is the bedrock for this wine. The 2023 vintage was a nice one giving wines a real bright, aromatic character. The blend is made to showcase the goodness of the Rhône varieties grown in the Swartland.

Syrah serves as the canvas for the wine with Cinsaut providing bright red fruit flavors and Carignan painting the deeper colors. The grapes were hand harvested from early to mid-February and fermented partially whole cluster and partially de-stemmed. After 9 days on the skins and a gentle extraction via light pumpovers, the wine was pressed to a mix of stainless and neutral oak where it aged for 10 months. It was bottled without fining and just a dose of sulfur and sheet filtration at bottling.

Stats

• Grapes: 50% Syrah – 40% Cinsaut – 10% Carignan

• Vineyard: Single sites in Paardeberg (Cinsault [50%] and Syrah), Malmesbury (Cinsault [50%]), Riebeek Valley (Carignan)

• Vine Age: Cinsault (Average: 24-years-old) – Syrah (Average: 29-years-old) – Carignan (44-years-old)

• Soil Type: Decomposed Granite (Paardeberg) - Malmesbury Shale with Loam (Riebeek Valley) – Granitic Sand (Malmesbury)

• Viticulture: Sustainable

• Fermentation: Native – stainless-steel (mix of de-stemmed and whole-cluster)

• Skin Contact: 9 days

• Aging: 10 months in a mix of stainless and neutral oak

• Alcohol: 13.5%

• pH: 3.4

• Total Acidity: 5.1 g/L

• Total SO2: 60 ppm

• Total Production: 2,000 cases