2008 Vondeling Petit Rouge, Cab/Merlot, South Africa

2008 Vondeling Petit Rouge, Cab/Merlot, South Africa

Product: 8252
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2008 Vondeling Petit Rouge, Cab/Merlot, South Africa

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Description

At the foot of the Paardeberg (Horse Mountain), the Vondeling farm can trace its history back to 1704 and, over 300 years later (but still not as old as Berry Bros. & Rudd), the estate is one of the notable up-and-coming names in the Cape. Great technical skill is evident in the purity of the fruit and modernity of the tannins. Straight from the horse’s mouth.

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About this WINE

Vondeling Wines

Vondeling Wines

At the foot of the Paardeberg, this 40 hectare working wine farm, owned by Julian Johnsen, Anthony Ward, and Richard Gower, has a tranquil atmosphere with panoramic mountain and vineyard views with Table Bay and Mountain visible in the distance.

The area around Vondeling Wines is rich in indigenous fynbos and four species are unique to the Paardeberg mountain – Babiana noctiflora, Erica hippuris, Oscularia paardebergenis and Serruria roxberghii.

Their Baldrick Shiraz was initially only sourced from the younger vines, but as the vines are no longer so young, selections are now made from the blocks and clones which provide more aromatics and a more accessible palate. The vineyards are planted on well weathered granite derived soils on south and southeast facing slopes. In total six clones of Shiraz were planted, all making different contributions to the final wine which is notably for the purity and accessibility of its fruit, not always a characteristics of the Cape’s reds. And why is the wine named after Blackadder’s hapless (yet recently ennobled) sidekick? A cunning plan, no doubt.

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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