Thursday, 25 August, 2022
Durbanville Hills
Did you know that Durbanville Hills's Shiraz comes from 3 different vineyard blocks? Each block brings something unique to every bottle of spicy Shiraz.
Two of these blocks are adjacent to each other, neighbours if you will, sloping from 130 to 180 metres above sea level. They occupy the Westerly side of the valley with a clear line of sight to the West coast because a fresh sea breeze is part of our cool climate wine recipe. To give our plump grapes good sun exposure, both blocks have a North-West/South-East row direction and face North.
The story doesn’t end there. For what would a good story be without a little character. Its name is “moedeloos” a nickname to be exact and sits at 15.1 hectares (despondent) given to it by the pickers as they don’t seem to get closer to the end of the block when picking from top to bottom. Its adjacent block sits at 4.8 hectares which makes for easier pickings than its neighbour.
The smaller block past its teen years at 19 years of age was planted in 2003 with a bigger block planted in 2000 on loamy soil of medium potential on weathered shale to prevent vigorous growth typical of Shiraz.
The other block is situated in the cooler mid-valley high up spanning from 280 to 300 meters above sea level. The soil is covered with small rocks making it treacherous to walk there as they act like ball bearings resulting in many people ending up on their backs.
The block of 2,6 hectares is also planted in a North-West/South-East row direction, but faces in a cool South-Westerly direction. Black pepper flavours are abundant in the wine combining well with the fruitiness from the other 2 blocks. The resulting blend is a typical cool climate wine with new-world fruit with old-world elegance.
Click HERE to shop Durbanville Shiraz 2018 and try it for yourself.