Sadie Family Treinspoor Tinta Barocca 2016
Vineyards
Swartland – Malmesbury
Winemaking and Maturation
This vineyard is located next to the old railway line (treinspoor) and was named accordingly. The very fragile, thin skin of Tinta Barocca is prone to sunburn, but in this case the old bush vines have formed a great framework to keep the bunches sheltered from the intense Swartland sun. Tinta Barocca has the textural nature of the Nebbiolo grape and the aromatic orientation of Syrah – a great combination. It produces wines of great character and expression that are built to last. The grapes are fermented with 50% whole clusters and 50% being destemmed and the fermentation is left for about 25 – 30 days prior to being pressed in an old basket press. Only bucket overs are done in the fermentation for it is very easy to over-extract Tinta Barocca since the grapes hold an abundance of tannins.
After pressing the wine is transferred into 28-year-old conical wooden casks that do not impart any wooden flavours. The age and the saturation of the wooden staves also make for a very slow reaction between the wine and oxygen. After 11 months on the lees the wine is racked to another concrete tank for an additional month to settle clean and 2 weeks prior to bottling we add 65mg/Litre of sulphur and bottle the wine from the fine lees.
Tasting Notes
Tinta Barocca is a grape that carries the soil into the bottle and it is a great communicator of terroir. The grape has a longstanding relationship with the Swartland and the spicy, herbal aromatics and dark purple plum-like fruit form a very tight and compressed core. As mentioned before: the tannins of the Tinta Barocca display very much the same behaviour as those in Nebbiolo and proper ageing is required. This is a wine with a big temperament and it requires care and ageing from its owner – we seriously recommend at least ten years of ageing. It is the king of the Mediterranean wines, although not well-known because it does not deliver big yields, but it truly crafts wines that can age!
Technical Details
Composition: Tinta Barrocca / Tinta Das Baroccas (South African synonym)
