Rustenberg - Petit Verdot Rose, Stellenbosch - 2018 (750ml)

Wine Composition

100% Petit Verdot

Winemakers Comments

This rosé exhibits aromas and flavours of red fruits: strawberries, cranberries and red cherries rounded by a fresh clean palate and food friendly palate weight.

Technical Analysis 

Alcohol Percentage

13.5% 

TA

5.4 g/l

pH

3.38

RS

6.5 g/l

Awards

Gold Medal Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Award 2018

Vintage / Vineyard

This vintage was impacted by the fourth year of the ongoing drought in the region. The 2017 Winter was cold and dry, followed by a dry Spring and Summer, with bouts of unusual weather. A number of thunderstorms resulted in a late onset of additional vigor in the vineyards. Unsettled weather and wind during flowering, along with a freak hail storm and low levels of soil moisture decreased yields by 20% to 50%. The harvest began closer to its average start date and the smaller berries and bunches yielded lower juice volumes per ton. The lower yields resulted in the wines showing excellent concentration and body, producing rich, robust reds and fruit forward, expressive whites and rosé.

Winemaker

Name - Randolph Christians

Winery

Rustenberg has a wine-growing history dating back to 1682, when Roelof Pasman from Meurs, near the Rhine, recognized its wine-growing potential. By 1781 some 3000 cases of wine were produced on the farm. Production doubled by the end of the century and a new cellar was built. The wine has been bottled at this cellar for an unbroken period since 1892.

In the early 1800s, Rustenberg was divided by owner Jacob Eksteen and a section was given to his son-in-law, who named it Schoongezicht and sold it soon after. Rustenberg and Schoongezicht were at their peak around 1812, with beautiful homesteads and flourishing vineyards. But by mid-century, recession coupled with disease in the vines, brought bankruptcy and dispossession.

Schoongezicht was rescued in 1892 by John X Merriman (who was to become Prime Minister of the Cape), and Rustenberg by his brother-in-law Sir Jacob Barry. Together they revitalized the farms. The fruit was sent to Covent Garden; new vines were grafted onto disease-resistant American rootstock; wines were exported to England and the Continent – and even found in Siberia.

In 1941 Peter and Pamela Barlow bought Rustenberg, later acquiring Schoongezicht and reuniting the properties. Their son Simon took over the running of the farm in 1987. The Barlows have been at Rustenberg for over 60 years: the longest period any one family has owned the farm.