Wine
Composition
100% Merlot
Winemakers Comments
The award winning Merlot ‘05 boasts generous
aromatics of ripe plums, mulberries and dark chocolate oak spice
with hints of mint. A dense and concentrated mid palate evolves to
a long, juicy finish. A fabulous wine to pair with mutton,braised
lamb or pork cassoulet.
Awards
John Platter - 4
Stars
Veritas 2008 - Gold
Medal
Technical
Analysis
Alcohol Percentage
13.08%
Total Acidity
2.64 g/l
Ph
3.72
Residual Sugar
2.64 g/l
Cellar Techniques
Destemming with no crushing in cool, misty morning. Whole
berry component of 80% in fermenter. Fermented in stainless
steel at 26-30o Celsius. Pump overs were applied twice daily
to extract flavor and tannins for structure. Mash was pressed
immediately after primary fermentation was completed. Wine was
gravity fed to 225l barriques for secondary or Malolactic
fermentation. Wine was matured in 90% new French oak for 19
months.
Winemaker
Name: Toit
Wessels, Winemaker
This is what he had to say…
Tell us about your early days in the vineyards, your education and
how you started your career.
After school I spent 3 years working in the UK and seeing as much
of the world as I could on a shoestring. On my return to SA I
studied viticulture and enology at Elsenburg Agricultural College
and my plan was to start making wine asap. But midway through
my first year of studies I realized with a shock that without a
great understanding of the vineyard I would never be able to reach
my full potential in the cellar and to this end I decided to spend
a year in the vineyards before enrolling for my third and final
year specializing in Enology at Elsenberg. I started as a
young viticulturist at Ridgeback in 2000 and absolutely fell in
love with the vines and soil and for 5 years almost forgot about my
dreams of making wine. During this time we won the vitcultural
competition for the best vineyard in Paarl/ Wellington and
Franschoek twice. Eventually after getting married in 2005 I
decided that it was now or never and returned for my final year of
studies where I finished top of my class and started in the cellar
in 2007.
Describe your philosophy and approach to winemaking.
My approach to making wine is simple. I aim to do as much of
the work as possible in the vineyard and then maintain the
integrity of our fantastic fruit with as little cellar manipulation
as possible. I love a wine that tells a story as no two
vintages are the same and this variation, no matter how subtle, is
there to show to us the fantastic effects of working with a natural
product. I love wines that depict their origin eg Paarl
Mountain Shiraz with the lovely floral aromas of violets, liquorice
and cherries.
What is or would be your ideal wine to make?
Ideal wine? That’s tough. I love working with Rhone
cultivars, especially Shiraz and Viognier as they are so well
suited to our area, but each time I go to a tasting I find
something which intrigues or interests me. On Tuesday I
attended a tasting of Spanish wines and was introduced to Verdelho
and Tempranillo and was absolutely blown away by the fruit of the
white and the depth of the red. Ask me again next year and
I’ll have a few more wines for the list ha-ha.
Favorite Cultivars to play with?
Favorite cultivars to play with would also have to be Rhone as they
are quite forgiving and the effects of bush vine vs trellis, old vs
young vines, and wood influence make such a
difference.
Winery
Windmeul,
Paarl
Ridgeback Wines is situated in Noord Agter Paarl surrounded by the
rugged magnificence of the Paarl Mountains. It was purchased in
1997 by Vernon Cole and at that time it was predominantly a fruit
farm. However the poor performance of fruit prices convinced the
owners to change over to wine grape production.
The origin of the main brand Ridgeback derives from the Ridgeback
dogs kept on the farm. The Ridgeback, an iconic dog of Southern
Africa, and known as “Lion” dogs because of their ability to keep
Lions at bay while their masters made the kill, embodies the
strength and quality of the winery’s product.
Today a total of 35 hectares is under vines from a total available
of 65 hectares. Great care has been taken to ensure the vineyards
are of the highest caliber. All vines are secured on high trestles
and water irrigated. In order to provide the winemaker with the
ability to produce an exciting array of blends the farm has a
fairly diversified vineyard. Ridgeback's terroir is what really
allows for them to produce great Rhone varieties. The soil is all
100% decomposed granite soil and temperatures in summer average
around 40 degrees. These conditions, similar to the Rhone valley,
are perfect for the production of Shiraz and Viognier, hence these
two varieties being their premium grapes.
The mainstay is Shiraz followed by Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Franc, Mourvedre, Petit Bordeaux and Granache. In addition
Sauvignon Blanc and their exciting Viognier complement the white
production.
Total volume of wines bottled 175000 bottles
annually.