Canadian Gold for Lammershoek

Lammershoek did well at the 21st Annual Ottawa Wine and Food Show this year taking half of the eight medals awarded to South African wines, including a Gold Medal for their 2005 Pinotage, the third year running Lammershoek Pinotage won a Gold.

They have just released their 2006 Pinotage which they say is an "excellent expression of the Paardeberg terroir. It is a wine from a young vineyard and therefore the berry-like character is dominant with mild oak tones, a deep plum colour and remarkable body.

This bush vine vineyard is west facing and receives sun all day. It yields approximately 6 tons from 3350 vines per hectare. The vineyard lies on a deep, well drained soil called “Cartref”. This specific soil formation is thought of as “poor” – its low water retention is perfect for the early ripening Pinotage grapes.

The grapes are hand picked at full ripeness, cooled to 2 ºC for 24 hours and then hand selected, destemmed and crushed. Cold maceration follows for up to 72 hours in open top concrete fermenters. Fermentation takes place under controlled temperature conditions with no undesirable post-alcoholic extraction. The mash is pressed and the wine, after settling, transferred to a concrete tank for malolactic fermentation. Once completed, the wine is biologically stabilised, racked to 255 litre new (20%), 2nd and 3rd fill French oak barrels for 12 months maturation. The wine is racked 2-3 times in that period and bottled without fining or filtration."

Lammershoek recommending serving their Pinotage at around 16 ºC and they say that the 2006 vintage will age comfortably over the next 5 to 8 years.