ALEXANDERFONTEIN SHIRAZ 2008
The natural tones of cloves and spices are enhanced when poaching pears with more spices and a bit of sugar in the Shiraz. The pears are a delicious dessert served with blue cheese or a creamy cheese of your choice. A cranberry and roasted nut nougat combines well with this wine or serve a glass with a cheese platter after a meal.
Recipe: Poached pears: Peel 4-6 pears and place in a large saucepan. Cover with 500-750 ml Shiraz and add 180 ml soft brown sugar, or to taste, 2 cinnamon sticks and 6 cloves. Simmer for 35 minutes or until the pears are tender, but not too soft – turn the pears over once or twice during this time. Spoon the pears out and reduce the sauce until syrupy. Serve pears (warm, at room temperature or ice cold) with blue cheese or even a dollop of crème fraîche and drizzle with the sauce. Enjoy with a glass of Alexanderfontein Shiraz.
Tip:
-Use spices of your preference. Allspice or cardamom pods can also be added.
Shiraz is highly adaptable and flourishes in many wine regions of South Africa. The windy conditions on our estate leads to a small canopy, focusing the plants energy onto the grapes.
DESCRIPTION: This wine has an interesting bouquet of wild berries, spice and cloves, supplemented with raspberry flavour in a soft creamy palate.
STYLE: Dry Red Wine
GRAPE VARIETIES: 100% Shiraz
VINIFICATION: The grapes were handpicked at 24°B. Cooling before fermentation allows for good colour extraction and slow fermentation. After 3 weeks of fermentation, the juice was separated from the skins and pips. Malo lactic fermentation was induced creating a full bodied wine. Barrel ageing was done for 6months, 20% being new wood - the rest 2nd and 3rd fill barrels.
ANALYSIS: ALC:13.85. %: TA:5.4g/l ; RS:2.6g/l: PH:3.72
