Yesterday we celebrated Mandela Day by making 67 sandwiches for Ladles of Love, and for lunch, we opened an exceptional wine, the 2012 Graham Beck Brut Zero.
This wine has a gorgeous rose gold color and on the nose a bit of freshly baked brioche, green apple skin with hints of gala apple flesh. The bubbles are tiny and plentiful, bursting immediately as you take a sip. On the palette, I noticed light pear and toasted pineapple. Bone dry and super yummy.
Brut Zero represents the ultimate transparency in premium Méthode Cap Classique. This extra-special cuvée is a blend of 77% Pinot Noir, 23% Chardonnay, and was created without the use of dosage. With no added sugar, what remains is a sparkling wine in its purest form, unadorned and natural.
This style of wine can only be made in truly exceptional vintages.
In the vineyard:
The Pinot Noir grapes for this wine were selected from the Slanghoek valley, whereas the Chardonnay was produced on our limestone-rich soils in Robertson.
The harvest:
The Slanghoek Pinot Noir and Robertson Chardonnay were picked on the same day in the third week of January and pressed together proportionally.
In the cellar:
The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes were whole-bunch pressed, separately. Only the highest quality juice (with the least amount of pressure exerted on the grapes) selected for this wine. The juice settled for two days before the clear juice was moved for fermentation in stainless steel tanks at a regulated 15 decrees Celsius. Secondary fermentation began in bottle during the start of June 2012, and the wine rested in the bottle on the lees for 60 months.
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