When we were approaching our first harvest back in 2004, we were never planning on producing a Rose. In our maiden vintage, we bottled only 800 bottles, most of this was planned for personal consumption, yet very good friends of ours Camil and Ingrid Haas, who owned Klein Oliphants Hoek at the time, currently own Boullabaise here in the valley, and have now recently opened up Camils in the Cape Royale, got wind of this and requested we offer some up for them, which of course we were very happy to, it’s a stunning food wine.
It matches so well with a wide variety of dishes and flavors. It literally flew out of the cellar, and has developed a strong following amongst appreciators of a decent dry Rose. For this last vintage, we are now on almost 3500 bottles, a major benefit for the portfolio as it is often sold out soon after release. Sales of the 2008 have been going well so to avoid disappointment and the same old hens teeth story from me again this year, it would be best to put your orders in early.
This particular wine also carries a very strict warning, a number of close family friends and even family, have attributed their little ones to an evening of one too many glasses of the good stuff. So if you’re not planning on hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet any time soon, please be aware when around your special someone after enjoying the pink stuff. Whilst we are all about family, we want to make sure its for the right reasons.
I feel that the difference with this Rose is the way Nikey handles the grapes and juice. The Shiraz is not crushed, it is de stemmed and the whole berries go into our big fermenter until its full enough to give a decent volume of juice. Depending on the harvest and the growing conditions, it is usually 3 to 4 hours of skin contact, enough to give the wine its fine onion skin, salmony hues. The juice goes straight into old French and Hungarian Oak barrels, usually a mix between old red and old chardonnay oak. The wine is treated much like a Chardonnay during its ferment, daily batonage and then its just father time that makes the difference, we like to keep it in bottle at least a year to get any shock over and done with.
Editors Note: Rose 2008 is one of the reasons I wanted to work with Rob, and Haut Espoir, as we shared an introductory glass at Caveau in Newlands around 6 months ago. The wine simply blew me away. It was dry, and unmistakably Shiraz, with pepper notes over the crisp dry flavors.
For a review on our original 2004 Rose, click the link for a review from the guys at Caveau, who we are featuring this week as one of our premier restaurants to choose. That link is here!
For us, the Rose release always signifies a special time of the year, as one our favorite pairings is Gammon around the Holiday Season, and this year will be no different. Please get in touch if you want to buy some of this fabulous wine, as it will be gone before the summer is up.
regards
The Haut Espoir Team
