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De
Toren 2008 vintage ratings confirm
our pedigree |
| Both or wines are
now real contenders on the |
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| Roxette
and our wines |
Usually it happens the other way around.
The stars visit ....... |
Read
more | | | | |
| De
Toren Fusion V 2008 - The Chairman' s choice |
Wine Magazine' s Tasting Panel
Chairman'
s choice ....... |
Read
more | | | | |
| The
final stretch before harvest |
| Determining the wine' s flavor profile' s
...... |
Read
more | | | | |
| Caring
for the environment |
| Columbit plant Spekboom on our behalf ...... |
Read
more | | |
| Why
some wines are so much more expensive? |
If wine is more expensive, does it guarantee
better quality? |
Read
more | | | | |
| Kens
Wine Guide U S A |
| Opinion on the 2008 De Toren South African ...... |
Read
more | | |
| Masters
Study on Meso climate, to cultivar, to rootstock, to soil type
continuum |
With viticultural techniques having improved
very rapidly ...... |
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more | | | | |
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Both or wines are now real
contenders on the World
Stage |
| Below
is a table showing the performance of the 2008 vintage.
From this it is clear to see that both our wines are now
world class and the mere fact that the 3 top wine raters
in the world agree on the quality of the wines, given a
point or 2 |
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| One
of the best barometers however is what our consumers
think. This is measured at the annual WineX Show in
Johannesburg attended by over 8000 consumers and here
both our wines were voted in the top 5 wines in the
country. Our performance over the last 3 years shows a
real consistency, giving our loyal consumers the
confidence buying our wines on release without risk of
buying a “not so good” vintage!. |
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| For
interest sake the ratings have been in the 90' s since
our inception in 1999 and we are releasing the 2009
vintage later this year! |
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| Our
stand at WineX South Africa |
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| Our wine makers visit Roxette |
| Usually
it happens the other way around. The stars visit De
Toren! On this particular case Per Gessle and Marie
Fredikson from Roxette sent their musicians for a
tasting at De Toren and delivered an invitation to Albie
his wife Magderie and Charles (our assistant winemaker)
and his sister Christia, to attend the show and meet
with them backstage. (Charles is married and therefore
would have been in trouble if he took anyone but his
sister as his wife was tied up elsewhere!) A couple of
bottles of our wine were enjoyed after the show and the
rest sent to Sweden. The photograph proves the event and
was taken before the bottles were opened! |
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| Albie,
Magderi, Marie, Per, Charles and
Christia | |
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De Toren Fusion V 2008 -
The Chairman' s choice
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| Usually
slickly put together, the 2008 vintage doesn' t
disappoint. Attractive oak spice on the nose, before a
palate showing juicy red and black fruit, fresh acidity
and fine tannins. Accessible now but should reward at
least another four years of maturation. CE' s
score: 17/20 |
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The final stretch before harvest:
Determining Flavor
Profile' s: |
Although
we do extensive analysis of everything in and around the
vineyards throughout the year, the last four weeks prior
to harvest certain conditions are extremely important to
optimize fruit quality. In this period it's of crucial
importance that everything is fine tuned to perfection
to ensure well balanced and complex flavored berries.
All aspects of the terroir must be managed as a whole
and at any given time up to ten different measurements
can be taken daily. From moisture content in the soil
(up to 1.5m below), moisture inside the vines, macro and
micro climate in and around the vineyards are measured
and our practices are altered according to these
measurements.
To ensure phenolic ripe berries,
the tempo of sugar loading within the berries is of big
importance. There must be a gradual increase of sugar
accumulation over a specific period towards harvest.
Sugar loading is the evolution of the quantity of sugar
per berry from véraison onwards. The evolution of sugar
loading in grape berries gives an indication of the
ripening process from a new perspective and is a novel
approach to identifying practical indicators for
obtaining our style of wine. Sugar loading also provides
information on ripening kinetics and enables the
principal phases of ripening to be distinguished. We use
the model developed by Prof Deloire to control this
process. In the measurements of Prof Deloire' s model
the size, weight and sugar accumulation is taken into
account. By using this model, alternate canopy
management and controlled irrigation can be implemented
to obtain a perfect ripening graph and with this
information we can ensure berries with either fruity,
spicy or mature flavors. |
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| Ernest
Preparing for yet another
measurement. | | |
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| Caring for the environment |
| You might have read
about our initiative to become a carbon neutral
producer. This means taking as much carbon out of the
atmosphere as we produce. This is done in various ways
over and above just limiting our Carbon production. The
Spekboom (indigenous to the Western Cape) absorbs the
same amount of carbon per hectare from the atmosphere as
a 1 ha size of the Amazon Forest. We have planted these
shrubs all over our property and now one of our barrel
suppliers have started an initiative to plant a Spekboom
for every barrel we purchase. They are planting these in
the Groenekloof Nature Reserve near Calitzdorp in the
Western Cape. Below is our certificate of their
undertaking.
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If wine is more expensive,
does it
guarantee better quality? |
| In
most cases the answer is yes. There are reasons
why wines are more expensive than others, but in
the end it is the taste that matters. Does it
matter that the property that the wine is coming
from is 10 times more expensive than properties
in very rural areas? Does it matter that the
natural or cropped yields are far lower than
wines coming from the frugal valleys? (In our
case about 4 tons per hectare compared to 30
tons per hectare in the Orange River Valley.)
Does it matter that we use rigorous sorting
methods and dump all the imperfect berries
(about 40% of what we grow)? Does it matter to
the taste that our labor is nearly double in man
hours and cost compared to the frugal valleys?
Does it matter to the taste that grapes are
refrigerated before final sorting? Does it
matter that we bleed up to 20% off the juice we
produce? Is it really necessary to bottle age
the wines for 12 months before release. Does it
matter that our bottles are imported from France
at 3 x the price? Does it matter that we use
expensive cork closures compared to screw caps?
Do we really need to wrap each bottle in its own
foil wrap and carefully pack into expensive
wooden crates? |
| As
a consumer I couldn' t really give a damn. For
me the taste must be an experience. I am looking
for elegance, complexity and fruit underpinned
by gentle oak and firm ripe tannin! The wine
must not overpower my meal and vice
versa! |
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yes if that is what I want in a wine we need to
do all of the above and more to produce a
product of world standard. |
| Lower
yields give more fruit concentration in the
berries. If you take fresh drinking water and
you mixed it with effluent, is it drinkable? The
same goes with berries. Any under ripe,
diseased, rotten or bird damaged grapes must be
removed before making the wine, otherwise the
flavors are affected negatively. |
| There
is a very positive reaction between wine and oak
and a great exchange of tannin. There is a great
variety of oak from all over the world. The best
results are obtained from old, slow growing
forests and then the toasting needs to be done
by experts. In our experience the best craftsman
are still in France! After all this trouble and
you put the wine in a cheap bottle, the cork
does not seat properly in an old overused mould
and the result maybe a spoilt wine? |
Then
there is scarcity. Because we produce limited
quantities the wine is not on every shelf in the
country. And it does make me feel special if I
can serve a really good, hard to get wine and it
delivers real enjoyment!
Yes, in most cases
the more expensive wine is the better wine and
as the cliché goes “Life is too short to drink
bad wine” - Enjoy! |
Want
to see the movie? Click below!
http://www.viddler.com/explore/lobsterink/videos/17/
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| Expensive
Real Estate with a view of the ocean! |
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| Green
Harvesting |
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| Burgundian
Oak Barrels which imparts
elegance! | | | |
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Kens Wine Guide U S A
opinion on the 2008 De
Toren
South African "Z" |
Wine
Category: South African (Red
Blend)
Grape blend:
45% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec, 7%
Cabernet Franc, & 6% Petite
Verdot
Region:
Stellenbosch
Price: $35
Cases
imported: 800
KWG
Score: 90.3 (based on 3
reviews)
Ken's Wine
Rating: Very Good+
(90)
Review date: February
15, 2011
Wine Review: This
slightly opaque dark purple colored blend from
South Africa is quite a treat. It opens with an
inviting smoky oak influenced blueberry bouquet
with a hint of plum. On the palate, this wine is
medium bodied, balanced, and soft, yet juicy. The
flavor profile is a tasty blueberry and black
raspberry blend with nicely integrated oak. The
finish is dry and its moderate gentle tannins
linger slightly. This wine is very food friendly
and would pair perfectly sautéed veal medallions
in a mushroom brown sauce.
Enjoy - Ken
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Master of Science project
at De
Toren. |
Charles
Williams our assistant wine maker has decided to
further qualify himself and is busy with his MSc
thesis. He says: With viticultural techniques
having improved very rapidly over the past 15
years, we have planted an additional 7 ha in
2004 to the newest techniques. Prior to planting
we did in depth investigations into soil types,
different clones, matching cultivars to soil
types as well as rootstocks to cultivars and
soil type. Thus we want to create as far as
possible the “perfect” Meso climate, to
cultivar, to rootstock, to soil type continuum.
Due to the chosen row direction the grapes get
direct morning and afternoon sun when the
temperature and radiation is more subtle. At
solar noon, the sun is directly above the
canopy, and the grapes are completely in the
shade of the canopy to protect it from sunburn.
With all the homework done as to the
establishment of the vines, we have started a
project to evaluate how far we can push the
envelope as far as Controlled Deficit Irrigation
(CDI) and canopy management are concerned. The
project consists of a factorial design, between
two degrees of canopy management as well as two
regimes of CDI.
The goals and aims are:
- To study the
interaction of two canopy management strategies
with two different irrigation regimes.
- To investigate
the plausibility of increasing hanging time of
the grapes to obtain optimal (phenolic) ripeness
at lower brix with different canopy management
and irrigation strategies.
- To investigate
the profile of different wines (stylistically)
as produced via different interactions of canopy
architecture and irrigation.
- To get results
that can be expanded to a commercial level,
regarding canopy management and irrigation to
obtain a specific wine style.
The
grapes from the different experimental parcels
have been micro vinified and will shortly be
tasted by an expert panel. The project has now
been up and running for one year and will be
repeated in the coming growing season. From the
results we wish to get information to help us
make decisions to further improve our
viticultural practices, but with a more specific
wine style in mind. |
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| Charles
Williams |
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| Retirement Planning |
If
you had purchased $1,000.00 of Nortel stock one
year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.
With
Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the
original $1,000.00.
With WorldCom, you would
have had less than $5.00 left.
If you had
purchased $1,000 of Delta Air Lines stock, you
would have $49.00 left.
But, if you had
purchased $1,000 worth of wine one year ago,
drunk all the wine, then turned in the bottles
for the recycling REFUND, you would have had
$214.00.
Based on the above, the best current
investment advice is to drink heavily and
recycle.
Why Wine and exercise is
good for you! |
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The
secret of enjoying a good wine:
- Open the bottle
to allow it to breathe.
- If it does not look like it's breathing,
give it mouth-to-mouth.
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De Toren Private Cellar
Website: www.de-toren.com
e-mail
us: info@de-toren.com
phone
us: +27 (0)21 881 3119
fax us: +27 (0)21 881 3335
De Toren Private Cellar
Polkadraai
Road,
Stellenbosch,
South Africa
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