Spice Route Winery releases Malabar 2012
Spice Route Winery released its much-anticipated flagship red blend, The Malabar 2012! Like the fellow Spice Route wines, The Malabar 2012 exemplifies the new age of the Swartland, and the farm Klein Amoskuil, where the grapes are grown and produced. The wine is the 8th Malabar edition in the Spice Route wine range since 2002.
Malabar is a blend of scrupulously sorted vineyards, including Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan and Petit Sirah. The elegant wine has a well-integrated palate, opulent tannin structure and balanced mouth feel, giving it the potential to age another decade. “A wine that truly reflects the excellence of Swartland,” describes Head Winemaker, Charl Du Plessis.
Layered and perfumed aromas of rich blackberry, plum, cacao and violets captivate the senses. The wine is delicious when served with slow roasted lamb, green beans and roast potatoes.
Each grape was carefully hand-selected and after fermentation the wine spent 12 months in French oak barrels before it matured in the bottle for another two years. As 2012 had a very low yield, a mere 2.6 tons of grapes per hectare were harvested. For a wine that took about four years to produce, the Malabar 2012 is most definitely an exceptional wine.
The Spice Route Malabar 2012 retails for R425 a bottle and is currently available in the wine tasting room at Spice Route Destination in Paarl.
SPICE ROUTE WINE TASTING & SALES are open Monday – Sunday from 09:00 – 17:00
- Spice Route Wine Journey: R25 per person
- Flagship Wine Journey: R50 per person
- Wine & Charcuterie Journey: R75 per person
- Malabar Journey: R25 per person
For more information, email tasting@spiceroute.co.za, call +27 (0) 21 863 5200 or visit
HOW SPICE ROUTE MALABAR 2012 WAS MADE:
Spice Route Malabar 2012 is a blend of scrupulously sorted vineyards, vinified and matured individually in Spice Route Winery’s dedicated Malabar cellar at Klein Amoskuil. The fruit was hand-harvested early in the morning into small lug boxes. After a bunch selection, the individual berries were hand-sorted over a sorting table and fermented in open oak fermenters (foudres), punching down the skins manually to give more structure to the final wine. After fermentation, the individual components were transferred to French oak barrels for 12 months. Only the best of these barrels was selected, then blended and returned to seasoned barrels for a further 10 months maturation. The wine was bottled without filtration and left to mature in the bottle for 2 years before release.
ABOUT SPICE ROUTE WINES:
Five centuries ago, the ancient mariners braved uncharted seas to round the Cape of Good Hope in search of exotic spices. Their nerve and dash continue to inspire the Spice Route philosophy. Charles Back and his team have found their signature wine style in the rolling hills along the Cape’s West Coast, where unirrigated vines produce grapes with small, thick-skinned berries – ripe fruit that is dense, rich and full flavoured. A passionate dedication to exceptional quality and traditional handcrafting captures the essence of this fruit in the wines of the Spice Route.
