Shiraz - Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Shiraz Barrel Matured

This wine has a deep ruby-red colour with prominent blackcurrant, berry and spicy red fruit aromas on the nose.  On the palate, the wine shows hints of black- and mulberry flavours, which are well integrated with the oak tannins to give the wine a long lingering aftertaste. The wood are well integrated and give the wine a soft, slightly smokey finish. Enjoy now, or keep for up to six years.

Viticulture
The grapes were separately harvested between 24 - 25°B from two different blocks on the Kleine Zalze farm. Careful canopy management by using a 3 wire trellised system ensured the correct amount of new leaves for good grape protection and the achievement of optimum ripeness. In addition, a long ripening period fostered the development of good Shiraz fruit flavours. All grapes went through hand berry selection on the sorting tables leaving only the best berries for fermentation.  Depending on the differences in soil the grapes were separately picked and vinified.

Vinification
After crushing, the grapes were cold macerated for three days before fermentation started.  During fermentation, the juice was regularly pumped over every 4 hours and the grapes punched down for optimum colour and flavour extraction.  Handling of the grapes took place in accordance with the given soil structures from where the grapes originated.  After fermentation in the stainless steel tanks, the wine was inoculated and malolactic fermentation finished in the barrels.  The wine was matured for 16 months in first (40%), second (30%) and third fill (30%) French oak barrels.