Black Pearl - Oro (Red Blend), Coastal Region - 2020 (750ml)

** THIS WINE IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR DISCOUNTS

Wine Composition

85% Cabernet Sauvignon & 15% Shiraz

Winemakers Comments

An aromatic strawberry, redcurrant and sage bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, plush red fruit, and a distinctive fynbos character.  This classy wine shows promise of development over the years to come.

Awards

John Platter | 92 points (2019)

Technical Analysis

Alcohol Percentage 

14.5%

Total Acidity 

5.7 g/l

pH

3.8

RS

4 g/l

Cellar Techniques

Fruit for this wine was hand-picked into 30lb crates with bunch selection done in the vineyard and on a sorting tray before light crushing and destemming – then transferred to small open tanks. Grapes were cooled to about 40 degrees F for cold soaking. Once the temperature rose naturally to about 60 degrees, cultured yeast was added. Wild ferments with this style of wine are risky– hence cultured yeast option. Open tank punch downs were done gently by hand, 3X daily for the duration of the ferment. Grapes were then pressed in a traditional 1 ton basket press. From there, the juice went straight to 300 liter barrels – mainly French and 2nd & 3rd fill primarily – for 1 year, during which time the wine was racked 2-3 times. Bottling is always unfined and very seldom filtered. This vintage was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Shiraz but that assemblage changes every year, but remain- ing over 85% Cabernet.

Winemaker

Name : Mary-Lou Nash

Winery 

Black Pearl Wines is a winery owned and operated by the Nash family, who relocated from New Hampshire in 1995. We now find ourselves fervently making wine. The vineyard is on the western slope of Paarl Mountain, which is part of the Cape Floral kingdom. Above stretches renosterveld, of which only 2% remains in the country and which the family is conserving in this World Heritage area. Renosterveld is typically found in shale-derived soils that have a high clay content. Shale bases soils form over shale rock parent material developing from the deposition and compression of clay and silt in ancient inland lakes and seas.