| Cape Jaffa \\\”Siberia\\\” Shiraz 2002 was an outstanding vintage, hence the production of this wine which is only produced in exceptional years. The fruit comes exclusively from one vineyard which we call \\\”Siberia.\\\” The cold and windswept nature of the site produces small berries with intense colour and flavour and a distinctive spiciness. Production is limited to around 500 cases or 20 barriques. The 2002 Siberia Shiraz was fermented in open top concrete tanks, where it was hand plunged three times a day before careful extended maceration on skins for six weeks. It was matured in new French oak barriques for 24 months before a light natural egg white fining (hand separated!). Ripe mulberry dominates the palate with hints of toasty oak, black pepper and dark plums. The wine has excellent fruit intensity and depth of flavour and will go well with red meat dishes or with blue cheese. This wine will age gracefully in the bottle for about 10 years. Rob Dobson Notes on Cape Jaffa ‘Siberia’ Shiraz 2002: “Siberia’ refers to a small section of the Cape Jaffa estate vineyard. This rocky knob is exposed to the cool breezes blowing off the ocean. As a result, the pickers christened this parcel of vines “Siberia” because it is so barren and chilly. These struggling vines yield a small amount of intensely flavoured grapes. Winemakers Derek and Anna Hooper produce this wine only in exceptional vintages and just 20 barrels (about 500 cases) of this wine were made. It was fermented in open tanks, where the floating cap of grape skins was punched down by hand (pigeage) three times a day before an extended maceration on the skins for six weeks to extract maximum colour and flavour. The wine was then matured in new French oak barriques (possibly Limousin or Nevers oak with a medium to heavy toast) for an astonishing 24 months. It was fined with natural egg whites before bottling. In the glass, this Shiraz is very dark, with lifted aromas of black cherry jam on toast, cocoa and smoky oak. There are deep, intense flavours of B.C. cherries mingled with freshly ground white pepper. The finish lasts almost a minute. Huge lashings of classy French oak tend to slightly overpower the massive fruit at this point in the wine’s evolution, but with more age this serious wine should pull itself into balance. This is delicious now, but it would be interesting to put a few bottles away to track its evolution over the next decade or so. |
