Sijnn Red 2007 75cl

12 x Bottle (75cl)

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Price

£250.70

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10% discount

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Colour
Red
Vintage
2007
Producer
De Trafford
Country
South Africa
Region
STELLENBOSCH
Alcohol
14.55%
Product code
13SIJ10B2007
Availability
3 cases
Grape Variety
42% Shiraz, 26% Mourvedre, 21% Touriga Nacional, 10% Trincadeira, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon

Tasting Notes

Attractive medium deep red colour. Slate, wild fruits and herbs on the nose with a touch of spicy oak. Rich, juicy, nicely textured palate with the moderate length and an attractive dry finish.

Awards and credentials

www.jancisrobinson.com

"The wine itself is sweet with the merest hint of coffee toasted barrels but the fruit dominates and is attractively complex, very gentle and flattering at first, even though the wine finishes firm, sinewy and very polished. The overall impression is of a South African red that is unusually lively, complex, confident and creditable."

Vinification Details.

Handpicked and carefully sorted in 14 kg flat trays in the cool mornings, to avoid damaging and transported back to Stellenbosch. Further sorting in Stellenbosch and 98% destemming and gentle crushing directly into small open top tanks, including some 700L wooden vats. Spontaneous natural yeast fermentation @ max. temp. 29 °C. Time on the skins 6 - 9 days, with caps of the skins punched down (pigeage) 2 to 3 times a day. Wine drained directly to barrels together with single pressing from traditional basket press. All red wines undergo malolactic fermentation in a mixture of 50% 700L barrels & 50% 225L barrels in the first year of maturation and mostly 700L in the second year of maturation. This better respects the complexity of the fruit while softening the wine sufficiently. 30% new French oak used - all 700L. Time in barrel 18 months, which included 3 rackings to gradually clarify the wine and assist maturation. The wine was bottled by hand, unfined and unfiltered.

Producer Information

Self-taught winemaker and former architect David Trafford's small but stellar production is regularly cited as being among the Cape's very best. David's winemaking philosophy is deceptively simple: to make the best possible wine he can whilst retaining a sense of place. To do this he embraces Stellenbosch's warm, sunny climate and rich, clay soils, noting that his vines are not planted on "the shagged out alluvial plains of the Medoc with their miserable climate". The wines tend to agree with him. They have rich fruit and a juicy ripeness but they are crisply pressed and structured too. His ability to blend New World innovation and Old World methodology can perhaps be best seen in his sweet Straw Wine, which has quickly become one of the Cape's most fiercely sought after wines.

Regional info.

This is an exciting new vineyard between the tiny hamlet of Malagas and Cape Infanta, at the mouth of the Breede River - called Sijnn by the original Khoisan inhabitants. Perched on a plateau of slate and rolled stones, about 15km from the southern oceans of Africa. At this stage there are no other vineyards within a 40 km radius, the closest being those inland around Swellendam and along the coast of Elim. The wines are made by the De Trafford team in Stellenbosch. A winery is planned for the property - still on David Trafford's drawing board!

The complex stony soils, together with a warm dry climate (350mm) moderated by constant sea breezes provides an ideal terroir to produce something unique. A mix of varieties from various origins deemed suitable to this area. All vines are grown as bush vines due to the exceptional low yield and vigour. This is the maiden vintage from the 3 year old vines. All vines planted on a mix of drought resistant rootstocks - Rug.140; R99; R110; Paulsen - and a mix of clones. The yield is extremely small: 1.8 tons/ha or 6 hl/ha!

The historical town of Stellenbosch, which features some of the finest examples of Cape Dutch architecture, boasts a winemaking tradition which stretches back to the end of the 17th-century. The mountainous terrain, good rainfall, deep well-drained soils and diversity of terroirs make this a sought-after viticultural area. The rapidly increasing number of wine estates and producers (in excess of 160) includes some of the most famous names in Cape wine. The district, with its mix of historic estates and contemporary wineries, produces excellent examples of almost all the noble grape varieties and is known for the quality of its blended reds.

Stellenbosch, the 'town of oaks', is also the educational and research centre of the winelands. Stellenbosch University is the only university in South Africa which offers a degree in viticulture and oenology, and it has many of the country's most successful winemakers as alumni. The Elsenburg School of Agriculture is also near Stellenbosch, as is the Nietvoorbij Institute of Viticulture and Oenology. This organisation has one of the most modern experimental wineries in the world and, at its experimental farms (situated in several winegrowing districts), important research into new varietals, clones and rootstocks is undertaken.

The intensively farmed Stellenbosch district has been divided up into several smaller viticultural pockets including Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch.

More information

ageing potential

enjoy now, up to 3-4 years

total acidity

4.8g/l

makers name

David De Trafford

vegans

Yes

organic

vegetarians

Yes

residual sugar

2.2g/l

wine ph

3.77