Wine Article
2003 Tokara Red
Last edited on 4/8/2008 by cab blends
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Bordeaux style blend
VINIFICATION NOTES
This wine is a blend of Merlot (73%), Cabernet Sauvignon (18%) and Petit Verdot (9%). These grapes originated from TOKARA’s Premium vineyards on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain. The grapes were picked at optimal ripeness from the 7th of March until the 10th of April. The grapes were destemmed and then passed across a sorting table for the removal of all unwanted material and crushed directly into the tanks for fermentation without the use of pumps. The crushed grapes were then fermented in stainless steel and wooden upright (foudre) fermenters. Pump overs, dellastage and punching down of the cap were implemented three times a day for extraction until fermentation was completed. The tanks were given maceration post fermentation if the quality warranted it depending on the tannin development. The wines were transferred to a barrel for malolactic fermentation after which they were racked, sulphured and put back into the barrel for further maturation. The wines spent a total of twenty months in sixty one percent new French oak and the rest being older French oak barriques. During maturation the wines received five rackings all done barrel to barrel. The wine was bottled in January 2005 after a light egg white fining without filtration.
TASTING NOTES
A dense, opaque ruby-plum hue, with a brick red edge. The nose is slightly closed at present yet with promises of riches to come: warm fruit, elegant wood, and lovely refined aromas of a fine red wine! The palate is dry, firm, yet silky, with an underlying grip and tannins, heralding a long life. Notes of brambly fruit and cigar box add interest – the wine is a work-in-progress, developing slowly all the tim
DOUBLE GOLD Medal - Veritas 2005
4.5 John Platter 2006
VINIFICATION NOTES
This wine is a blend of Merlot (73%), Cabernet Sauvignon (18%) and Petit Verdot (9%). These grapes originated from TOKARA’s Premium vineyards on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain. The grapes were picked at optimal ripeness from the 7th of March until the 10th of April. The grapes were destemmed and then passed across a sorting table for the removal of all unwanted material and crushed directly into the tanks for fermentation without the use of pumps. The crushed grapes were then fermented in stainless steel and wooden upright (foudre) fermenters. Pump overs, dellastage and punching down of the cap were implemented three times a day for extraction until fermentation was completed. The tanks were given maceration post fermentation if the quality warranted it depending on the tannin development. The wines were transferred to a barrel for malolactic fermentation after which they were racked, sulphured and put back into the barrel for further maturation. The wines spent a total of twenty months in sixty one percent new French oak and the rest being older French oak barriques. During maturation the wines received five rackings all done barrel to barrel. The wine was bottled in January 2005 after a light egg white fining without filtration.
TASTING NOTES
A dense, opaque ruby-plum hue, with a brick red edge. The nose is slightly closed at present yet with promises of riches to come: warm fruit, elegant wood, and lovely refined aromas of a fine red wine! The palate is dry, firm, yet silky, with an underlying grip and tannins, heralding a long life. Notes of brambly fruit and cigar box add interest – the wine is a work-in-progress, developing slowly all the tim
DOUBLE GOLD Medal - Veritas 2005
4.5 John Platter 2006