Grangehurst Nikela 2011

In the cellar

After destalking and crushing the grapes, the mash was fermented in open tanks for between 5 and 14 days on the skins. The cap of skins was punched down and mixed with the juice 6 to 8 times per day to ensure optimum extraction of colour, tannin and flavours. After completion of the alcoholic fermentation, the free-run wine was drawn off and the skins were gently pressed in basket presses. The press wine was blended with the free-run wine in stainless steel tanks before being transferred to small oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation occurred in tanks and barrels. Bottled at Grangehurst using a gentle gravity flow filling system. The wine flowed from the elevated bottling tanks through a cartridge filter to the hand filler and into the bottles. This was the only stage during the entire winemaking process that the wine was filtered. This wine was clarified according to the settling and racking method, which does not involve the use of any fining agents, centrifuges or filters – a natural, unhurried method of clarifying wine. The various component wines – Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, Shiraz and Roobernet – were matured in 225 litre French oak for 34 months.