Radford Dale Vinum Grenache 2022

Deep crimson in colour with a ruby rim. Pronounced red current and perfumed strawberry notes on the nose. The heartily fruited palate is reined in by firm, but polished tannins before a lingering pomegranate finish.

We believe in the amazing potential of Grenache from this region, to produce characterful, intriguing, and delicious wines. We’re encouraged by the progress of these relatively young vines and it looks like coastal Stellenbosch will offer up a growing category of Grenache over the next 5-10 years. The fruit for this wine comes from two vineyards, one on the Helderberg, overlooking the ocean, the other on the Stellenbosch Mountain. They grow in rocky koffie klip soils, with decomposed granite and a deep sub-layer of clay. These vineyards benefit greatly from the South Easter sea breeze in the summertime, cooling the entire vineyard. With plentiful rain over the winter of 2021-2022, and with higher moisture levels in the soil, strong and even budding was seen in the spring. It was a long and slow harvest which meant extra hang time for greater phenolic ripeness.

The grapes were all hand-picked at dawn to capture freshness and acidity while retaining elegance in the flavour expression. The bunches were hand-sorted and a combination of whole berry carbonic maceration and partial crushing took place in a 7000L oak fermenter, on the skins, using wild yeast only. This technique lifts the fruit and creates intensity, as well as freshness and liveliness. We employed very light extraction, with the focus on promoting a lithe, supple texture. This complements the expressive fruit profile, and in doing so retains depth and persistence. The berries were basket-pressed to ensure only the purest liquid was extracted.

The wine was then matured for 11 months in older (3 to 4-year-old) French oak barrels.