Du Plessis Organic Vineyard, Breede River Valley, South Africa
Oak 3 & 5 / Body 5 / Sweetness 0
Multiple medal winner* Pinotage is a cross of
Burgundy’s delicate Pinot Noir and
Rhone’s robust Cinsault. It has become the trademark grape of
South Africa.
The Du Plessis vineyard is situated on the slopes of the
Keeromsberg Mountains at 6,800 feet above sea level, where it enjoys a combination of hot days and cool nights – ideal conditions for fine Pinotage. Carefully managed for low yields to ensure solid concentration of flavors in the finished wine. The vineyard is certified as being fully organic.
We use the maximum amount of Pinotage juice and ferment it on 2 liters of virgin, Pinotage skins and solids to heighten the wine’s true varietal character. Our exclusive 2-stage oaking system utilizes French oak during fermentation then Hungarian oak cubes during the initial resting period to deliver the complexity and body so prized in the best Pinotage wines.
The finished wine is a remarkable example of the complex and distinctive character of South Africa’s unique red wine. It releases aromatics of black pepper, red currant, vanilla, spice, cedar, toasted hazelnuts, cherry and trademark notes of banana. Slight earthiness.
The flavors are complex with dominant currant, cherry, banana, blackberry, vanilla and toastiness. Beautifully balanced. Great color. Medium, soft tannins. Long, clean finish. The mature character should be revealed in 6 months and further refinement is expected for up to 2 years.
CRUSHED GRAPE PACKS
Cellar Craft uses over 12 pounds of virgin, varietal grapes to produce "Crushed Grape Packs” for true, on-the-skins fermentation in its Showcase reds. All of the natural skins and solids from variety-specific grapes are captured for extra extraction of aromatics, flavor, tannin, colour and body during the fermentation stage. The finished wine shows character never before possible from a kit. Truly a quality breakthrough! Available in 16 varieties!!
Each kit is in the 18L format. Produces 6 gallons of wine.
CELLARCRAFT WINE LEGEND Oak
0 – Unoaked
1 – American Toasted
2 – American Untoasted
3 – French
4 – Hungarian Shavings
5 – Hungarian Oak Cubes
6 – Acacia Wood Cubes
7 – Hungarian medium toasted cubes
8 – Hungarian natural oak shavings
Body
1 – Light
2 – Light/Medium
3 – Medium
4 – Full
5 – Very Full
Sweetness
0 – Dry
1 – Off Dry (230mL flavour reserve)
2 – Sweet (470mL flavour reserve)
6 – Very Sweet (2.0L flavour reserve)
10 – Dessert Wine
Please note: This kit is being discontinued. Very limited stock remaining.
