Luddite Shiraz MAGNUM Walker Bay Südafrika 1,5ltr.

Analyse: Anbaugebiet: Bot River/Südafrika, Winzer: Niels Verburg, Alc: 14,3%, Zucker: 2,1 g/L, Säure: 5,45 g/L, PH: 3,8, Rebsorten: 100% Shiraz, Ausbau: 12 Monate Barrique davon 25% neue Fässer, 50% 2te Fässer, 10% 3te Fässer, 15% 4te Fässer, 25% der Fässer aus amerikanischer , 70% aus französischer und 5% aus ungarischer Eiche, produzierte Flaschen: 21600 jede Flasche handschriftlich nummeriert,
Auszeichnungen: Platter 4,5 Sterne (von 5), Wine Spectator 89 Punkte, Decanter Shiraz Competition 4,5 Sterne (von 5), Wein der Woche bei Jancis Robinson, Wine Magazin 4 Sterne (von 5), Decanter „einer der 10 besten Weine Südafrikas“, Septemberheft Selection 3,5 Sterne,
Besonderheiten: ein Wein zu 100% von Hand gemacht, von Hand gelesenen Trauben über die Pressung von Hand in einer Korbpresse über das schonende Vergären mit viel, viel Zeit (der Wein lag 80 Tage auf den Traubenschalen), weiter mit dem aufwändigen Ausbau in diversen Barrique Fässern bis zum nummerieren jeder einzelnen Flasche von Hand!

For sheer power and concentration, the amazingly intense Luddite Shiraz has few if any rivals in The Cape. It's made by Neils Verburg, a man passionate about tradition with no time for modern winemaking technology! Handcrafted from start to finish, it's obvious from this bold, 14% wine that every last drop of flavour and character has been extracted from the grapes. Dark purple with pronounced bramble-and-clove-scented fruit. Rich and mouth-filling, firm and fruity. The Luddite Shiraz is one of the region's most individual and distinctive wines made in tiny quantities only. Like all great wines, it may throw a harmless deposit, so careful decanting is recommended.

Quelle:www.jancisrobinson.com

Here's a name to watch, and a label to smile at. Penny and Niels Verburg founded Luddite Wines in nov 1999 with the sole aim of making world-class Shiraz. They're far from the only South African winemakers with this aim in view and to my mind most South African Syrah/Shiraz (it's called both) has quite a way to go before it reaches the heights of the best South African reds made from Bordeaux grapes. But to judge from the quality evident in this early release from bought-in grapes, the fruits of their own 10-hectare/25-acre hillside vineyard in cool Walker Bay should be very special when the first vintage, 2004, is eventually released.

This particular wine is emphatically not a cool-climate Shiraz. In fact it's a great walloping thing with 15.5 per cent alcohol from a warmer-than-usual vintage and from unirrigated vineyards in the warmish regions of Malmesbury and Bottelary in Stellenbosch. I would normally expect to find this all a bit too much but the balance is great and the wine, despite its youth, awfully easy to drink.

Here, for detail freaks, are the winemaker's notes on vinification:
The grapes were cooled overnight in a cold store, crushed and destalked the next day into open cement fermentation tanks. Allowed to cold macerate for three days then inoculated with sourced Rhône yeast. Cap was punched down every four hours to ensure better extraction. Average fermentation temperature was 24 deg C. Once fermented dry, the wine was pressed with the horizontal basket press into tank where it underwent malolactic fermentation. Barrels were 30 per cent new, 50 per cent second fill and 20 per cent fourth fill. 75 per cent French Allier and 25 per cent American barrels were used. Total of 12 months in barrel. Wine was racked and given a light filtration before bottling.