ATARAXIA - Serenity (Cinsault - Pinot Noir - Pinotage) - 2017 - Kevin Grant - South-Africa

ATARAXIA - Serenity (Cinsault - Pinot Noir - Pinotage) - 2017 - Kevin Grant - South-Africa

Ataraxia is Greek for "a serene state of mind, free of worries and concerns" and it lives up to the hype. Aptly named The Skyfields, Ataraxia Wines is perfectly positioned on an impressive hillside in the beautiful Hemel-and-Earth wine region.

A short distance from the coastal town of Hermanus lies the Heaven-and-Earth Valley, and the claim is justified. The Ataraxia estate sits on a particularly heavenly piece of land below a towering mountaintop of the Babylon Tower. In addition to its unrelenting beauty, Ataraxia is home to some of the most spectacular terroirs South Africa has to offer. The vineyards, with their proximity to the South Atlantic Ocean, elevated plantings and predominantly south-facing (cool) slopes create the ideal for growing cooler and climate-friendly grapes.

Characteristics of the wine

The fruit used to make this wine was sourced from radical and individual vineyards sites with one goal in mind – to have the confidence to “whisper” style through the true expression of these sites rather than “shout” brashness through winemaking excesses. This wine is a seamless blend of three varietals, Pinot noir, Cinsault and cool-climate Pinotage. However, the emphasis of this blend remains entirely on style rather than cultivar make-up. Cultivars are after all merely vehicles to express terroir and not the expression of a wine itself.

The different cultivars were handpicked, sorted and crushed into open fermenters. Here they each underwent cold maceration on their skins for seven to ten days before fermentation commenced. At completion of their ferment, each batch was pressed off separately to barrel where malolactic fermentation took place. Careful maturation in tight-grain French oak barriques, 21% of which were new, for a period of 11 months followed before the wine was blended and bottled in January 2018.

Wine Style

Harvest 2017 was warm and dry in the national context. However, the benefit of a maritime influenced mesoclimate was on full display at Ataraxia and environs. This together with careful and nurturing viticulture and winemaking have produced a wine that possesses a finely scented, vibrant nose with hints of red berry fruit and intriguing mineral and spicy notes. Mouth-watering and polished grape tannins are wrapped in an elegant structure that subtly occupies all corners of one’s palate. Intriguing, unusual and lingering.

Wine year 2017

Alcohol = 13 vol % Res Sugar = 2.4 g/l Total Acidity = 5.27 g/l pH = 3.57 Barrel Ageing = 11 months in 225L French oak barrels Wood Age = 21% New; 79% 2nd Fill
Cases produced: 1978 x 12 Bottled: 16th January 2018 Release Date: January 2019

Wine year 2018

Alcohol = 13.31 vol % Res Sugar = 2.4 g/l Total Acidity = 5.2 g/l pH = 3.45 Barrel Ageing = 11 months in 225L French oak barrels Wood Age = 20% New; 80% 2nd Fill
Cases produced: 1628 x 12 Bottled: 21st January 2019 Release Date: 1 July 2020