Shiraz

In 1979 San Louis fell ill, stopped eating and grew tremendously weak. His grave was dug, but as he was being let to it, the decision was made to try and treat him for a little longer. Seven months later he had recovered completely. On 7 February 1981 San Louis won the 1600m Guineas horse race, one of South Africa’s most prestigious races. This vineyard is situated on deep, calcareous soils that allow deep root penetration. This enables the vineyard to withstand heat and drought. The 2018 vintage was well known as the drought vintage in the Western Cape this we got through). The Robertson region was no different and Excelsior only had 50% of the normal irrigation water available. Fortunately near perfect growing conditions were experienced. The days were warm and dry and cool night were experienced throughout the growing season resulting in a very healthy crop of very good quality. Some cultivars did experience the worst frost damage in 30 years, but this influenced quantity over quality. The Shiraz grapes were harvested on 10 March at 24.5° balling. The wine was fermented for 7 days on the skins with twice daily pump overs. The wine was aged in 30% new American oak barrels for 18 months. Only 300 cases of this wine was produced.

Food pairing by in-house chef - T-bone steak med/rare served with monkeygland sauce will complement the nose of chocolate and espresso.