Family Reserve Shiraz 2017 6x75cl

• 75cl bottle

A dark brooding wine on both the bouquet and palate. The depth of flavour is astounding and the dark plums on the mid-palate give way to a long finish with the slightest hint of white pepper. With both savoury and fruit notes this wine is a very versatile wine to enjoy with food, but be assured the mouth filling, supple tannin structure will ensure that one will be well rewarded by cellaring this wine carefully for a few years before enjoying!

Vineyards

Shiraz thrives in Mediterranean climates and the fruit showed excellent concentration whilst retaining freshness and elegance.

Vintage

Much like the 2016 vintage, 2017 can also be characterized by the dry winter and a dry growing season. We had however planned for this and managed our vineyards carefully to ensure that they don’t experience any extreme water stress. We experienced fairly persistent wind during the latter flowering period and the yields, especially on our Cabernets, were lower than normal. The harvest started very early and we were up and running on the 11th of January. We expected 2017 to be a challenging vintage (similar to 2016), though very moderate midsummer temperatures and cooler than normal night temperatures provided excellent ripening conditions. The Sauvignon Blanc’s are far more expressive than we expected and the Chenin Blanc’s are particularly vibrant. With regard to the red varieties the long even ripening provided great colour and flavour development and overall physiological ripeness at lower than normal sugar levels. This in turn has meant that we were able to produce wines that we believe will have great balance and finesse without being short on density. While our Cabernet’s are always outstanding we believe that the 2017 Shiraz produced are displaying a new evolution for us at Kleine Zalze. Showcasing these wines in a year of two’s time should prove to be interesting and a lot of fun

Winemaking

Grapes were hand harvested early in the morning, de-stemmed and sorted before being transferred to stainless steel tank for fermentation. The perfect structure in the wine was achieved through a combination of open and closed pump overs and careful monitoring to ensure the best balance possible. Maturation took place for 20 months in 70% new French oak barrels

Enjoy with:

• Grilled and Roasted Red Meats
• Casseroles/Stews
• Mature Strong Cheeses

Perfect with a roast leg of lamb & potatoes