Wine Composition
100% Shiraz
Winemakers Comments
Dark plum and black berry aromas with hints of spice, violets, smoke, iodine and iron. Big and bold with smooth tannins and dark, spicy black fruit on the palate. The acidity adds some freshness on the finish. Careful cellaring will allow this wine to age gracefully for at least 8-10 years from vintage.
Awards
92 pts - Tim Atkin report
4.5* - John Platter guide
Technical Analysis
Alcohol Percentage
14.5 %
Total Acidity
5.56 g/l
pH
3.57
Residual Sugar
2..06 g/l
Vinification
Great effort is made during harvesting. Selected pockets of vines are harvested separately over 3 harvesting dates. Grapes are harvested by experienced pickers where the critical initial selection is made. The grapes were destemmed and lightly crushed into opentop fermentors. The juice was allowed to start natural fermentation at low temperatures and after a day inoculated with a selected strain. Fermentation was done at 28oC and kept on skins for 10days. A combination of pump-over’s and punch downs were done. The wine spent 17 months in barrel of which 40% were new, all French oak.
Winemaker
Name - Spatz Sperling
Winery
Delheim Wine Estate is situated in the Simonsberg Ward of Stellenbosch in South Africa, with views that are breathtaking all year round.
Over the years, Delheim became a microcosm of Spatz's visionary work in the greater Stellenbosch community and the Cape winelands as a whole.
The indomitable Spatz was the unwitting pioneer of public wine tasting events personally hosted by winemakers outside the winelands. In 1962 he embarked upon his first 'tasting tour', ferrying himself and his wines by car, train and plane to East London, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg, the first producer to do so.
The ultimate wine industry recognition of Michael 'Spatz' Sperling's extraordinary contribution to Cape wine came in 2009, the year in which the industry celebrated 350 years of winemaking. He was one the pioneers honoured with the 350 Celebration Scroll.
Conservation : By sharing the land amongst all the stakeholders and training people to understand and appreciate - as well as work on - the land, Delheim is fostering a system that yields a livelihood for everyone; one that will continue to do so for future generations. With 375 hectares of land situated in the beautiful Simonsberg Ward of Stellenbosch, Delheim is a keen exponent of the wine industry’s movement to conserve the region.
