In 2012, Richard Kershaw MW, founded Richard Kershaw Wines to create model wines from selected clones, suitable for the location, grown in a cool climate, from noble grapes, which produce world-class wines. South Africa's coolest wine-growing region, the Elgin Valley, is ideal as it benefits from higher altitude, proximity to the ocean with alternating cloud cover, high cold masses and a diurnal range, allowing Chardonnay, Syrah and more recently Pinot Noir grapes to capture the identity of the terroir of the place.
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Medium-deep cherry color, a nose that reveals blackberry, black plum, green and white pepper, and lavender notes. Gentle first impression on the palate, freshness, and elegance in structure, firm and harmonious tannins, with acidity that offers balance yet, is delicate. This is a superb wine that is full of fruit, freshly ground black pepper, and sweet spices. A real depth of flavor with a dry, smooth lingering finish that is sure to reward those who keep it in their cellar for the next 5 - 8 years.
Hand-picked under the autumn sky. Careful selection of clean raw material and transfer to open fermentation tanks. 3 days of maceration before spontaneous fermentation begins. Standing with the skins for 21 - 29 days. Then transfer to a barrel under gravity and pressing of the remaining stems in a grape press. The rest of the malolactic fermentation takes place in the barrel, with a light sulphurization and 17 months of maturation. Without further refinement, the wine is bottled unfiltered.
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Barrels: A small number of barrels were selected, all from Burgundy, only French oak. Importantly, each clone and soil type was micro-wined as a separate batch. Each lot used an algorithm set up to keep data on which barrels performed best and how many new and how many used barrels were used. Overall, the average in 2018 was 45.4% new oak barrels. 47% 228-litre, 38% 500-litre and 15% egg tanks.