Ageing potential

This wine drinks well in youth but improves over time gaining additional complexity for at least six-eight years from vintage.

The Vineyard

Sourced from two sites in the Swartland, organically certified Pinotage
grapes from the Kasteelsig vineyard which is owned by Painted Wolf
Pack member Billy (Guillermo), and sustainably farmed grapes from Werdie farm between Malmesbury and Darling. The site is primarily red Glenrosa soil with some Oakleaf – both shale rich duplex soils and these vines are not irrigated. Yields are round 6.5 tons to the hectare.

Winemaking

The grapes were hand-picked into small baskets and taken to the cellar. A portion of the grapes were whole bunch fermented in a spherical egg and left for 8 weeks on skins. Another portion was fermented in open bins and hand punched 4 times a day. The rest was fermented in a rototank. No commercial yeast was used as these grapes ferment well with their own yeast. The wine matured in a mixture of French, Hungarian and American oak barrels for 14 months. Approximately 20% was new wood.

Food suggestions

This is super food wine and pairs well with many deeply flavoured dishes. This wine does well with exotic flavours and we would happily push out the boat and serve it with dishes like Peking duck, sticky sweet and sour pork belly, braised beef shanks (Osso Bucco) with polenta and gremolata, wild mushroom risotto or Mexican style mole.