Thelema Rabelais 2011
Rabelais is a blend of our best Bordeaux components selected from the 2011 vintage. The wine shows extraordinary concentrations of luscious dark berries, cherries and cedar wood spice on the nose. The fruit intensity follows through onto the palate with a lovely, long finish. A great investment wine.
Maturation
The carefully selected components of this wine lend themselves perfectly to long term cellaring, 10 – 15 years.
Food Pairing
This complex and full-bodied wine complements beef and game dishes.
Tasting Notes
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon (90%), CS 338C Petit Verdot (10%), Clone PV 219A |
|---|---|
| Root stock | 101-14 and R99 |
| Soil type | Hutton – decomposed granite |
| Age of vines | Planted 2002/2003 & 1988 |
| Plant density | 2000 and 2110 vines per hectare respectively |
| Trellising | Vertical hedge |
| Pruning | 2-bud spurs every 12cm |
| Yield | 7 tons/ha (Cabernet), 8 tons/ha (PV), |
| Irrigation | Supplementary drip |
| Vintage | Very hot and dry vintage, resulting in an early start to the picking, with different varieties ripening at the same time. A tough vintage for the winery crews! |
| Picking date | 11th March (Cabernet Sauvignon), 19th March (PV) |
| Grape sugar | 25.0 °B (Cabernet), 24.9 °B (PV) |
| Acidity | 5.3 g/l (Cabernet), 6.72 g/l (PV) |
| pH at harvest | 3.55 (Cabernet), 3.51 (PV) |
| Yeasts | Natural occurring yeasts |
|---|---|
| Fermentation temp | 27 °C |
| Method | De-stalked, hand sorted, crushed, pumped into stainless steel fermentation tanks, cold soak for two days, and pumped over twice a day for 5 days, an aerated pump over in the morning and a closed circulation in the afternoon. After fermentation the wine is left on the skins for 2 days before pressing, once pressed wine is racked to barrel for malolactic fermentation. |
| Wood Maturation | 20 months in 80% new 225 L French oak barrels |
| Production | 6500 bottles |
|---|---|
| Residual Sugar | 2.8 g/l |
| pH | 3.72 |
| Total acid | 4.2 g/l |
| Alcohol | 14.85% by volume |
| Maturation | 2016 – 2030 |
Rabelais is a blend of the best Bordeaux components within our Thelema range from the 2011 vintage. During our annual vintage review individual barrels are identified and earmarked for the Rabelais blend, which is complex, elegant and structured. Extraordinary concentrations of luscious dark berries and cedar wood on the nose complemented by a lovely sweet fruit character on the palate. The wine finishes long and firm. It will reward cellaring.