Ernie Els - Signature Blend

Concept

Producing a wine made up of five Bordeaux varieties to reflect the unique diversity of the Stellenbosch terroir. This wine, made by cellar master Louis Strydom, is Ernie Els and Jean Engelbrecht’s vision to produce an exceptional wine, reflecting their respective commitment to quality.

Climactic Conditions

Mediterranean with the rainfall ± 650mm per annum, the EE vineyards are located high up on the northern slopes of the Helderberg Mountain. This contribution imparts warmer fruit flavours to the wine. In summer, the vineyards’ close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean result in cool sea breezes that keeps temperatures lower, extending the ripening period.

Soil

The soils are deep red and are a mixture of weathered / decomposed granite and Hutton. A small percentage is made up of clay and Clovelly.

Vinification and Style

The different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot are kept separate (micro-vinified) throughout vinification. Vinified in 300 litre French oak barrels for 20 months, the wine underwent bottle maturation for a further 18 months. This wine is made in a full robust style and has the potential to age.

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Plum red with a thin red rim.
Aroma: The aroma of the wine is fruit driven with combination of the black fruits plum, cherries and blackberries. The fruitcake aromas are rounded off by a subtle oak spice to the finish. There are also distinctive earthy undertones to this claret.
Palate: The fruit from the aroma follows through onto a seductive mid-palate, supported by a silky mineral feel with hints of oak and backed by a sweet tannin finish.
Impression: “This wine offers great middle palate complexity with a lingering spicy finish. Drink now through 2015.”

Analysis

Alcohol: 15.19 vol %
Acidity: 6.00 g/l
PH: 3.80
Residual Sugar: 3.6 g/l

Ohau Gravels Sauvignon Blanc

4 Stars - Sam Kim - Wine Orbit - February 2011

It’s gently fragrant on the nose displaying grapefruit, apple and herbaceous characters. The palate is lively and bright showing good fruit intensity and racy acidity. From just north of the Kapiti Coast, this is a sturdy and firm style Sauvignon with a mouthwatering palate. At its best: now to 2012. $21.00 Moderate available. 12.5% Screw cap.  Feb 2011.

4 Stars - Raymond Chan 

The fruit for the Ohau Gravels premium wine was selectively hand-picked, cool-fermented in tank, 5% given a wild yeast fermentation in old oak, to 12.5% alc. and 4.5 g/L rs.   Brilliant pale straw-yellow in colour, this has a softly full, but elegant nose of capsicums, English gooseberries and a steely, mineral edge.   The bouquet has very good intensity.   Dry on palate, there is good racy acidity lending a tightness and elegance.   The fruit expression has good depth and line through the length of the palate.   This should develop and become a little rounder over the next 2 years plus.   Drink with all seafood, and Mediterranean and 
Asian cuisine. 
 18.0-/20   Dec 2010  Raymond Chan 

Pure Bronze - Air New Zealand Wine Awards 2010
Highly Commended - Sydney International Wine Show 2010

RAATS CHENIN BLANC 2008

One of the benchmark chenin blancs from South Africa.  The four previous vintages scored over 90 points in Wine Spectator. Grapes are sourced from old vines from three vineyards in Stellenbosch, all characterised by their complex soils. Somehow both rich and intense yet elegant and delicate on the palate. Honeyed pear, butterscotch, citrus flavours complemented by a firm minerality and spicy edge. A profound wine that changes perspectives.
Alc: 13.5  RS: 2.1  pH: 3.42   TA: 5.9

Scored 89 from Wine Spectator February 2010 and is included in the “17 Most Impressive White Wines” from the Cape region of South Africa that deliver consistency, diversity and value.  Decanter Magazine December 2009 - chosen as one of the top 25 wines from South Africa.  2010 John Platter - 4½ Stars
Harpers Wine & Spirit UK (June 2009) - Rated Top 5 Chenins from South Africa

Hawkesridge

 Hawkes Ridge Wine Estate is a family owned, boutique winery situated  20kms West of Hastings in the Hawkes Bay.  
The members of our family are Bob Armstrong, Carolyn Armstrong, Douglas Haynes and Julie Haynes.  Winemaker Brent King also works at Hawkes Ridge. 

 At Hawkes Ridge we encourage wine drinkers to “try something different!”  Along with well known varieties Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris we produce lesser known varieties Viognier, Semillon and Tempranillo.  This gives wine drinkers the opportunity to try some wine varieties that they may not have tasted before. 

 We are passionate about wine and chose to plant varieties that we enjoy drinking and are suited to the site.  The vineyard is north facing with very warm daytime temperatures and cooler night time temperatures compared with other wine growing areas in the Hawkes Bay.  This temperature variation ensures the grapes ripen slowly and develop to their full potential with flavours unique to the site.

The vines were planted in two stages:  The Semillon, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and were planted in 2002 and the Viognier and Tempranillo in 2004.  There are over 32,000 vines planted over 30 acres on our top river terrace.  We generally limit the vineyard to approximately 80 tonnes of fruit.  These low cropping levels ensure peak flavor development.  Our peak production level is approximately 5000 cases a year.

There are also 5000 olive trees on the property.  At this stage we sell all the olives to the Village Press for oil.

The first vintage under the Hawkes Ridge label was in 2008 and only a very small volume was made due to contractual commitments.  In the previous years Hawkes Ridge had contract grown for Sileni, Villa Maria and Elephant Hill while Douglas went to EIT to become qualified as a winemaker.

All the reds are handpicked and fermented in 2000kg packages and are essentially hand processed wines with hand plunging and absolute minimal use of mechanical devices such as pumps.  The winery is set up so we can gravity feed to help with this.  The Viognier is entirely handpicked as is at least 50% of the Pinot Gris and Semillon.  These grapes are then whole bunch pressed using low pressure which results in very clean juice that requires little, if any fining.  The 2008 Viognier was entirely barrel fermented, however we have settled in future vintages to do 30% barrel fermentation on all the whites with the remainder fermented in small 600-1200 litre stainless tanks with many different yeasts used to add complexity.  As an example, for our 5 wine varieties made in 2010 we had 76 individual ferments.

We are trying to make wines for lovers of good wine and concentrate on retaining the fruit and promoting the mouth feel of the wines.

The red swoop on the Hawkes Ridge logo represents the two ridges on our property and the black swoop represents one of the Hawkes that live on our property, and ride the warm air currents on a summers day.

Trentham Petit Verdot

The estate’s family owned and operated vineyards have
produced many outstanding wines, and this range is a
testament to their finest vineyards. Careful selection of
varietal clones and rootstocks over many years has
enabled the estate to craft wines of character and quality.

The Harvest & Winemaking
The 2008 vintage was quite mild which allowed even ripening and
therefore outstanding flavour development. Fortunately heavy rain
and a short heat wave in January didn’t affect these flavours and
the Petit Verdot grapes were harvested on March 18th at optimum
maturity.
This Petit Verdot was made using our traditional winemaking
techniques. The grapes were crushed into tank and fermented in
skins for 10 days to extract colour and flavour. Post fermentation
the wine was pressed and then matured with French and
American oak for 14 months prior to final blending, stabilisation
and filtration. The wine was bottled in May 2009.
The Wine
2008 marks the fifth release of this wine. It has deep red purple
colour with floral and berry aromas. These characters along with
mocha and spice are present on the palate which is completed
with supportive oak and a velvety tannin finish.
This wine is robust yet fine which makes it an ideal match for
many dishes, especially beef, lamb and kangaroo. Enjoy now or
cellar for 6-8 years.
E S T A T E R A N G E
Analysis
Alcohol: 14.5%
Acid: 5.9 g/L
pH: 3.83
Sweetness: Dry