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Pinotage

Southern Right is re-defining Pinotage with this intense classically styled, clay-grown wine, packed with complex berry fruit, beautiful tannins and subtle wood spice. Full ripeness and the longer hang-time afforded by cooler sites, combined with the complex, more classic fruit aromas and structure resulting from clay-rich soil, make this wine a highly individual expression of South Africa’s unique grape variety.

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Soil :

Low-vigour, stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soil

Alcohol :

13.60%

Acid :

5.50 g/l

pH :

3.55

Residual sugar :

1.56 g/l

Barrel maturation :

100%

Barrel ageing :

9.5 months

Malolactic :

100%

1st fill :

10%

2nd fill :

22%

3rd fill :

34%

4th fill :

34%

Wooding :

90% 228 litre & 10% 400 litre French Oak Barrels

Tight grain :

100%

French coopers :

Mercurey 77%, Francois Freres 23%

Yield :

4.21 tons/ha, 28.53 hl/ha

Production :

2279 cases of 12 bottles equivalent

Release date :

February 2017

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Growing Season

2016 was another unusually early and short harvest – almost exactly the same timing as 2015. But as is wonderfully the case with nature, the character of the 2016’s is surprisingly different to the 2015’s. For the winelands in general, the story was of excessive heat and extreme dryness. But this was not the case for our appellation, the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. Close proximity to the cool South Atlantic kept the maximum temperatures in line and we also benefitted from timely rain from the southeast, which seldom reaches the warmer inland areas. January was quite a bit warmer than our long-term average (the same as for 1998 and 2011) but it was not drier than average. And the crucial month of February was wetter than average without being warmer – as was March. Our main dam was almost full at the end of harvest. A relatively warm December, followed by a hot January was probably the main factor in making 2016 an early year. High humidity did create some anxiety – less over downy mildew – more over oidium – so it will be remembered as a more challenging year than 2015, but the resulting wines for the classicists and purists will perhaps be seen as more typical of our style.

90 Points - Wine Advocate

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