Survivor Cellar Master Series Pendulum
R490,00
The wine has a deep ruby colour, inky depth, and a hint of garnet on the rim, igniting your senses with its arresting purity of fruit. It comes alive with an amalgamation of flavours, engulfing your palate with red currant, dried cranberry, red plum, plush mulberry and juicy black plum. A subtle note of cedar and wet slate adds a cool lift to the intensity of fruit, with aromas of freshly tilled earth and spicy notes of sweet English leather catapulting you back in time. This old-world charm evokes a sense of romanticism with a subtle perfume of rose petals and violets without forfeiting its youth and vibrancy like only the new world can offer.
All of these nuances traverse your senses like a pendulum swinging between its old-world essence and new-world confidence. The balance persists with uncanny fruit purity on the palate and a refreshing acidity poised on fine-grained tannin, complete with a chalky mouthfeel and a long persistent finish.
Winemaking Techniques
The Cabernet Franc and Merlot was given a long cold maceration of 4 days after which they were individually inoculated with a yeast cultivated in Bordeaux. The extraction methods included 2 punch downs and 2 aerated pump-overs per day until 10 ̊B. 3 closed pump-overs per day followed, until all the sugar was fermented out. The wines were then given a 2-week maceration on the skins before being pressed and MLF allowed to complete in tank and transferred later in 2019 into big 400 and 500 liter vats where it lay for 30 months.
I did final selection, blending and bottling in February 2022 and a mere 2300 bottles were bottled. The blend consists of 85% Cabernet Franc and 15% Merlot.
Vineyards
Tradouw is in the heart of the Little Karoo and is known for its continental climate with cold nights and warm days. These conditions are detrimental for colour and fruit development.
The Cabernet Franc and Merlot are grown on clay/loam soils with some decomposed Bokkeveld Shale. These soils produce wines with a certain amount of depth, elegance, minerality and freshness. The wines are also recognized to have lower pH’s which prolongs the longevity.
The age of the Cabernet Franc vineyard in 2019 was 20 years and that of the Merlot, 18 years.
Vintage Conditions
The total rainfall in 2018 was a mere 90mm, compared to the average of 470mm. Although this was extremely low, there was enough water to ripen the grapes to its full maturity. Nice and even budburst was possible because of the consistent cooler airflow transcending from the nearby Langeberg Mountain range.
The drier ripening season meant the conditions were favourable for an ultra-low disease risk which meant much less spraying of fungicides and providing conditions of organic farming. Grapes were picked by hand in the cool of the morning during the 3rd week of March.
Food Pairing
Roasted pork or duck with cranberry jus
Barbequed thickly cut Karoo lamb loin chops with rosemary
Lamb tomato stew
Feta cheese
Appellation: Tradouw
Varieties: Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Harvest Date: March | Vintage: 2019
ALC: 14.42% | RS: 2.7g/l | pH: 3.63 | TA: 5.8g/l
| Brand |
Survivor |
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