Description
Five centuries ago the ancient mariners braved uncharted seas to round the Cape of Good Hope in search of exotic spices. Their nerve and dash inspire the Spice Route philosophy. We have found our signature wine style in the rolling hills along the Cape’s West Coast, where unirrigated vines produce grapes with small thick skinned berries – ripe fruit that is dense, rich and full flavoured. A passionate dedication to exceptional quality and traditional hand crafting captures the essence of this fruit in the wines of the Spice Route.
IN THE VINEYARD
Planted in 2006, these younger unirrigated bushvines from Amoskuil farm have started to show promising results, with the potential to produce complex wines. Even the antelope that roam wild on the farm have particular preference for this vineyard, often nibbling on the low- hanging bushvine fruit.
HARVEST DATE
12 February 2019
WINEMAKING
The grapes were hand-picked and fermented in open concrete fermenters with manual punch-downs of the skins. The wine was gently pressed off the skins and transferred to old French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation, guaranteeing the integrity of its delicate fruit. The wine was matured for 16 months further in these barrels.
WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS
The early picking of mid-February for Grenache is the result of the dry summer of 2019. Luckily, we could still select the fruit at optimum ripeness, with good balance between the natural sugar and acidity. The amazing grape offers striking purity of fruit and has great potential in the Swartland Cheers!” - Charl du Plessis -