Charles Back was an early pioneer in the Swartland, founding Spice Route there in 1998 after tasting an exceptional Sauvignon Blanc and immediately buying the land on which it grew. “Without [Charles]…the Swartland would still be regarded as a rural backwater”, wrote Tim Atkin MW, who awarded the winery ‘Cru Bourgeois’ status in his South Africa Classification in 2019. Today, the Swartland is the source of many of South Africa’s outstanding wines, and Spice Route remains one of its best and most credible producers. This is largely because they own all their own vineyards, driven by a belief that producing exceptional wine begins in the vines. Their vineyard holdings are comprised of 100 hectares in Malmesbury and Darling. The former, all bush-trained and planted on Malmesbury shale and red clay subsoils, give the fruit grown there an intensity that makes this region so exciting.
Winemaker Charl du Plessis has worked with Charles since 2002 and knows the region intimately. Charles is keen to capture the flavours and structure of the outstanding fruit he has grown. In fact, despite the desert-like conditions of the region, the vines are never irrigated.
Production
This wine is produced from a single block of bush vineyard on the Klein Amoskuil farm in Malmesbury. These unirrigated bushvines were planted in 1997 on Koffieklip soils. This deep ferricrete soil is comprised of decomposed granite from the Paardeberg Mountain percolated with iron rich brown and red stones. Koffieklip soils produce elegant red wines with robust structure.
The bunches were fermented in 5-tonne open concrete fermenters with manual punch-down of the skins twice a day, extracting deep colour and flavour. The wine was pressed off and transferred to tight-grain American oak barrels with 30% new oak used to complete malolactic fermentation and maturation. A small portion also matured in underground clay pots.
Tasting Notes
This Pinotage has an intense ruby red colour in the glass. On the nose are lifted aromas of blackcurrant and ripe cherry fruit, with subtle notes of dark spices, cedar and a trace of smoky oak. On the palate, there are intense dark fruit flavours complemented by bright acidity and framed by velvety tannins.
For the carnivore, try this with venison, burgers or if you can get them, traditional boerewors. For a less carnivorous diet, drink with grilled aubergine or spicy chana masala.
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