Produced by Riebeek Valley Wines in Swartland, South Africa.
Riebeek Valley Wine Co., founded in 1941, is a leading winery and bottler in Swartland, South Africa. They pride themselves on being 100% Swartland Origin, with grapes sourced from 22 local family estates. (Formerly Riebeek Cellars), established in 1941, it is one of the oldest winemaking cooperatives in Swartland, South Africa. They focus on producing 100% Swartland-origin wines and, through collaboration with the local community, perfectly capture the essence of this unique terroir.
Region
Swartland: The birthplace of South Africa's wine revolution!
Swartland has transformed from an obscure agricultural region into a premier destination for fine wines, coveted by top wine critics and sommeliers worldwide. Here, there are no opulent commercial wineries, only independent winegrowers toiling under the scorching sun on the arid land; here, they reject the cookie-cutter tastes of industrialization, using only unirrigated old vines and natural yeasts to create the most vibrant and lifelike wines.
Two soul-stirring soils: Swartland's greatness is built upon its extremely barren yet powerful soil structure:
Slate & Shale: Primarily found around the Riebeek Mountains. This soil has excellent drainage, forcing the vines to send deep roots to find water, giving the wines an exceptionally solid structure, profound earthy notes, and intense minerality.
Ancient Granite: This is the signature soil of the Paardeberg Mountains. Grapes grown on granite often exhibit stunningly bright acidity, pure and ethereal fruit aromas, and a silky texture.
Winemaking
Natural Yeast Fermentation: The use of artificially cultivated commercial yeasts is strictly prohibited. Fermentation relies solely on wild, natural yeasts found on grape skins and in the cellar air to preserve the most authentic local flavors.No Chemical Additives: The addition of any artificial enzymes, tannin powder, or excessive acidification is prohibited.Avoiding the Interference of New Oak Barrels: Strongly opposed to strong vanilla and toasted oak flavors masking fruit aromas. They stipulate that only a very low percentage (or even none) of new oak barrels can be used, instead relying heavily on large, old foudres, concrete egg-shaped fermentation tanks, or amphorae for aging, allowing the wine to breathe freely while maintaining absolute purit
Picked at the perfect ripeness our Shiraz is fermented intemperature controlled stainless steel tanks. After pressing, the wine is matured in French oak barrels to allow the fruit flavours to evolve and integrate with the oak characters. We believe the natural fruit flavours in the wine should not be masked by overt oak flavours, thus we use only 3rd & 4th fill French oak barrels. The wine is further matured in bottle before being released.
