75% Mourvèdre; 25% Syrah (1198 bottles produced)
Introducing the Keermont 4 Barrels Rosé 2023, now forming part of the Keermont range. Our 4 Barrel Rosé is made up of three barrels of Mourvèdre and one barrel of Syrah. The Mourvèdre grows high up in the Steepside vineyard and the Syrah grows low in the valley in the Sweetwater vineyard. Sweetwater is the coolest block and ripens very late allowing us plenty of time to pick fresh grapes for the Rosé.
Winemaking:
The batches are harvested early (before they are very ripe) for freshness in the wine. The grapes are left on the skins for about an hour to draw just the right amount of colour before being basket pressed. The juice is fermented in seasoned French oak barrels and left to settle for about 5 months before being bottled by hand.
TASTING NOTE
Pale onion skin pink in colour, this wine has powerful aromas of ripe strawberry, litchi, and cut grass. The
palate is soft and textured with vibrant acidity. Beautiful berry and stone fruit flavours are complimented by vanilla undertones. Drink now, or within the next 5 years.
ANALYSIS
Alc: 13.0%
pH: 3.44
TA: 5.6 g/L
RS: 1.9 g/L
TSO2: 96 mg/L
VA: 0.34 g/L
VINTAGE REPORT
2023 will be remembered as a wet vintage in the Cape. Winter was cold and wet, which is very beneficial for the vineyards and sets them on a good course for the vintage. While spring was cool and dry, as the season progressed we received above average rainfall. December was very wet which created a lot of disease pressure and led to more growth in the vineyard.
Harvest was also wetter than usual and we had to time our picking carefully to avoid dilution from the rain.
Fortunately, we were able to get the fruit in relatively quickly before the temperatures started to drop and ripening slowed right down. The farm produced a total of 144.5 tons (roughly the same as 2022) and the Keermont Winery processed 89 tons (including 5 tons for bulk wine sales, a first for us).
One interesting point of difference about 2023 was that we didn’t have the usual overlap of white and red grapes. This year we picked most of the white grapes before the red grapes ripened.
