I read on the ‘Stellenrust – JJ Hand Made’ website that they hand-picked grapes for this wine, but was curious as to how the various other procedures in winemaking—almost always accomplished by pumps and machinery—were carried out. It was also interesting to read how they have empowered their black African workers by partnering with them on 100 acres of the 400 acre property. Here’s the email response from the wine maker just minutes before I sent off this newsletter to the webmaster for publishing. If you’re not familiar with how most commercial wine is made, and much of it is made very well, this is indeed unique and worth knowing, especially if you plan to pick up a bottle or two; I know I am—it’s a great wine and about as ‘hand made’ as you’re likely to get in a commercial wine. Besides, wine tastes better accompanied by a compelling story about it!
Stellenrust ‘JJ Hand Made Wines’ Merlot 2006WO Stellenbosch $17.95 (096586) 14.5% alcohol
Aromas of ripe black berry fruit and heavily toasted oak spill from this medium-bodied generously textured red. Dynamic and concentrated, it delivers a gargantuan mouthful of cassis, juicy mulberry and dark mixed berry fruit that melds beautifully with smoke and succulent Bing cherry on the balanced lengthy aftertaste. Pair with bobotie and yellow rice—an RSA curried-meat favourite. (Vic Harradine)
Dear Vic
Sorry for only getting back to you now, but I am on holiday in the bush and only check my mails periodically. Thanks for the info request. Please see my answers below and if anything is unclear, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
I know this is quite a unique system of winemaking and for one of the larger estates in South Africa, quite a big effort with a 2000 ton winery sitting next to this boutique cellar created especially for these wines. But we needed to prove at our capacity and size; it is possible to do specialized 'lots of effort' wines if I can call it that.
The Handmade Merlot and Picalot, of which we make only 3000 bottles each annually, are something special to our family even though it was only introduced in 2003. The reason why we chose Merlot and a Pinotage based blend, is because Merlot is SO difficult to grow properly in South Africa and to prove to people the capabilities of Pinotage.
Best Regards
Tertius Boshoff (Wine master at Stellenrust)
1. What is a 'wooden stomper'? It actually refers to the wooden stomps (Dutch direct translation for an age old puncher). The grapes come into the cellar and fall into giant old stainless steel tanks. Afterwards we allow whole berry fermentation with native yeasts. Punch down of the cap is also done manually with these wooden stomps every 2-3 hours. Skin contact is allowed for up to 10 days. We drain through a gravity system from the top of the cellar (where the stainless steel tanks are) to the bottom of the cellar where the barrel room is. Here it finishes its malolactic fermentation in the barrel and spends its time in oak afterwards.
2. Is the wine hand racked (no use of pumps)? Yep, you can call it hand racked. We use negative barrel pressure with nitrogenoxide which is fitted to a pipe system where the wine is pushed out with gas pressure from one barrel into the next without physically using a pump. We have found that this protects the wine from any pump damage.
3. Do you filter your wine (using a pump)? Nope, the wine is unfiltered. If filtration is necessary in some vintages, we also use a negative gas pressure system which refrains us from using any machinery. Filtration necessity is determined in accordance with a microbiological analysis which is performed on every wine we bottle through an independent lab.
4. Do you fine your wine (using what)? We only do red wines under this label - a Merlot and a Pinotage based blend with Merlot and Cab. Therefore I only use real egg white for fining. We fine through a system of separating fresh egg yolk and white, mixing it with some wine and allow it to sink to the bottom of the barrel over a 2 week period. Thereafter we use the gas system to get the wine out of the barrel and onto the bottling line as well.