Walled with musical scores and books and pulsating with the love of music, The Music Room is distinct from all the others in a musician’s house. This Cabernet is crafted using ancient, natural winemaking methods. This means we hand pick the bunches and manually punch down the fermenting cap. We never, ever force a grape through the pump. We don’t add cultured yeast, fining or stabilising agents, and we don’t sterile filter. Our alternative closures ensure fruit-packed and decadently smooth wine in every bottle.
This vineyard is planted on a shallow layer of weathered granite top-soil over impenetrable Kuils River clay, so the root system is naturally contained. Every year we court disaster with the weather, leaving the grapes to hang long past when it is safe for grapes to be out and about. We just pray each day the next hot, dry north wind isn’t going to blast it flat and shrivel the berries beyond recognition.
The resultant aromas and flavours of this heroic vineyard are expressed more as complex, ethereal summer fruits like strawberry, cherry, and black-ripe youngberry. This density of red berry flavours is framed by herbs like fennel and fresh thyme. The bitter chocolate notes and hint of vanilla come from the barrels we use which are hand-coopered to our exacting specifications in a variety of small, family-owned cooperages in Bordeaux and Napa Valley. The tannins are almost creamy in texture. This is directly the result of our gently hand-plunging the fermenting cap down. The serious palate weight is usually balanced by enough natural acidity to compliment intensely flavoured, rich food. There’s nothing vulgar or coarse about the tannins, aromas or flavours from this block. Rather they are focused, fine and vivid like a victorious, battle-weary General’s vision of his beautiful, young wife – and visa versa.
The Music Room 2003,
Tasting Description:
Deep sensuous purple, colour. On the nose summer
fruits, cassis, fennel and the faintest hint of basil, all wrapped up in serious, warm toasty oak. The palate is all about chunky, chewy, magically integrated tannin. This rewarding mouth-feel is complemented by concentrated flavours of youngberry, wild mint and blueberry. A block-buster cabernet.
Food Pairing: Rack of Karoo lamb and pan-wilted garden
fresh spinach.
Analysis: Alc 13.33% Ta 5.7 Ph 3.49
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