Alto, Shiraz 2019

Description

Alto is a leading red wine producer with over a century of heritage, situated in the prestigious Helderberg Mountains within South Africa’s Golden Triangle. The name Alto is reference to both the farms altitude with vineyards as high as 500m above sea level and the family’s pursuit of excellence. The range of wines is crafted exclusively from grapes grown on the estate, with the distinctive terroir serving as the cornerstone of Alto’s enduring success.

WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS
Colour: Bright, vibrant red.
Bouquet: Juicy plum and blackcurrant, smoked charcuterie savouriness and hints of white pepper.
Taste: Amazing combination of fruit freshness, classic depth and complexity of flavour. Supple, muscular tannins with white pepper and fynbos on the finish. An exceptionally elegant and balanced wine.
Food pairing: A beautiful wine to enjoy on its own but is excellent with red meat dishes including spicy lamb or grilled sirloin. It also pairs well with Venison dishes like Springbok carpaccio.

WINEMAKING
The grapes were harvested by hand at 24.5o to 26o Balling in mid-March. After destalking and crushing, the juice was fermented for 10 days on the skins in stainless steel tanks at 25o to 27o C. A small portion of about 10% of the grapes are whole bunch fermented. We use a pump over system. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged in wood for 18 months, using a combination of first, second and third fill French oak barrels.

VINEYARD
2019 was a remarkably cool harvest season, a hot spell early in the year resulted in energic ripening producing balanced and elegant wines. The grapes for this wine came from vineyards planted in deep, decomposed granite and clay soils on a north westerly slope, situated some 100m to 150m above sea level. The vines are grown under optimum conditions and are trellised on a seven-wire trellising system. They yielded 8 to 12 tons per hectare.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS:
Alcohol: 14 % by vol
Residual sugar: 2 .8 g/l
Total acidity: 5.8 g/l
pH: 3.65
Extract: 29.9 g/l

WINEMAKER: Bertho v. d. Westhuizen
APPELLATION: Stellenbosch
GRAPE VARIETALS: Shiraz

ACCOLADES:
94 points IWSC,
91 points Decanter,
Gold Michelangelo
International wine & spirits
awards,
90 points James Suckling,
90 points Tim Atkin,
4.5 stars Platters.

Additional information

A beautiful wine to enjoy on its own but is excellent with red meat dishes including spicy lamb or grilled sirloin. It also pairs well with Venison dishes like Springbok carpaccio.