Promenade Pinotage 2017

DH Collectors Reserve


BACKGROUND

Inspired by Cape Town’s radiant energy and creative demeanour, our new premium offering – The Collector’s Reserve – is a unique range specially crafted by our winemakers using only the finest grapes from Cape Town’s best vineyards. To truly connect the Winelands and City, we have handpicked prominent landmarks in Cape Town and commissioned a vibrant Capetonian artist – Theo Vorster – to impart his vision of these landmarks onto each bottle. This range has been designed as a collector’s item for both wine and art lovers alike.

WHAT’S IN A NAME

A leisurely stroll down the seafront promenade affords breath-taking panoramic views of Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean, a beautiful reminder that certain experiences should be savoured and enjoyed at a leisurely pace. The Pinotage rewards an unhurried approach with lingering complexity on both nose and palate.

THE VINEYARDS

The grapes were selected from a 17-year-old vineyard on the open Westerly side of the valley. The block faces to the West, exposing it to the afternoon sun. The soils are fairly deep and of the yellow Clovelly and red Hutton forms, which have a fair amount of clay content for good water retention. The vineyard gives great quality throughout, but there are known spots that are positively different. The selection was made out of these by tasting and chemical analyses to ensure full ripeness. The vineyards were inspected on regular visits to assess skin and seed ripeness, which is of vital importance in making great Pinotage. Picking commenced when the skins were soft and the seeds woody, guaranteeing an absolute absence of greenness and abundance of soft ripe fruit.

THE WINEMAKING

Hand-picked in 500kg fruit bins, the grapes were handled with minimum intervention and de-stemmed over a sorting table into 15 ton fermenters. The must was left overnight and then 10-15% of its juice was drained to concentrate the body, flavour and aroma compounds of the final product. The wine was then fermented with a preferred yeast strain and continuous timer-regular pump-over cycles, in combination with compressed air, were used to extract maximum fruit, colour and tannin. The wine was then matured in a combination new and second fill, tight grained medium toasted French oak barrels for 14 months.

WINEMAKER

Martin Moore and Wilhelm Coetzee

COLOR

Dark ruby with purple tinge.

NOSE

A well-integrated wood feel with ripe notes of strawberry, raspberry, plum, dark chocolate and Christmas fruit cake.

TASTE

An elegant full taste with silky tannins, concentrated sweet fruit with hints of cinnamon that lingers on the after-taste.

FOOD PAIRING

Rich robust recipes, slightly spicy fruit, Cheddar, matured Gouda.

Chemical analysis