Wine Origin

Simonsberg, Stellenbosch South Africa.

Grape Varietal

100% Roussanne

Tasting Guide

This wine has a fragrant perfume of lilies, as well as peach and apricot fruit with complex flavours of green apple, are evident on the palate. Characters of sweeter pineapple, flesh out the mid-palate and give weight to a peppery the finish with great minerality.

Introduction

Rustenberg is a true pioneer in the production of Roussanne in South Africa, importing the first plant material into the country in the late 1990’s and producing the first single varietal Roussanne in 2004. Each vintage allows the production team to experiment with production methods to constantly craft and understand the variety to produce truly interesting and expressive wines. Roussanne is not overtly fruity but has wonderful minerality, palate weight and texture that is emphasised with careful bottle aging.

Vintage

This vintage was impacted by the fourth year of the ongoing drought in the region. The 2017 Winter was cold and dry, followed by a dry Spring and Summer, with bouts of unusual weather. A number of thunder storms resulted in a late onset of additional vigour in the vineyards. Unsettled weather and wind during flowering, along with a freak hail storm and low levels of soil moisture decreased yields by 20% to 50%. The harvest began closer to its average start date and the smaller berries and bunches yielded lower juice volumes per ton. The lower yields resulted in the wines showing excellent concentration and body, producing rich, robust reds and fruit forward, expressive whites and rosé.