Ashbourne - Pinotage 2018 75cl Bottle

Product Description

Black plum, cranberry & pomegranate combine with hints of clove, cedar, iron, dry-aged beef & turned earth on the nose. The palate is tight, bright & pure, with flavours of cranberry & pomegranate. There is a marked minerality behind vibrant fine-grained, dry tannins. This is an elegant, tensile wine that is built to last a very long time. Structurally (and aesthetically) it seems to be somewhere between young Bordeaux & Barolo. After the early & short 2015 & 2016 harvests, 2018, like 2017 was back to our usual timing, beginning at the end of the first week of February & finishing at the end of the first week of March. Higher than usual early Spring temperatures brought early budding, but an unusually wet & cool November/ December affected flowering & fruit-set, resulting in particularly low yields
- far lower than the already low yields. A warmer than average February, combined with the very low yields, smaller berries & lighter bunches did however contribute to the riper more opulent style for the 2018 vintage, the resulting wines were deeper, fuller & more structured. The wine was aged initially for 10 months in 400 litre barrels, then 7 months in neutral 2000 litre Foudre. All 100% French Francois Freres Oak. 224 dozen cases were made in total.