Hartenberg Estate Wine, Gravel Hill Shiraz

Over the past thirty years, from a poor parcel of dry, gravelly soil, a veritable giant in the wine world has grown. Hartenberg was one of the first South African estates to separately vinify grapes from a particular terroir. Wine from the small and highly unusual �gravel hill� was first bottled in 1978 under the �Montagne� label. Winemaker Carl Schultz arrived at the farm in 1993 and soon agreed that �The Gravel Hill� site was special, with wine from its grapes different to that from other parts of Hartenberg . The opportunity to showcase the site on its own arose after Carl was invited to join the Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG) a couple of years later. As a condition of membership, he had to produce a small quantity of wine for sale at the annual CWG Auction. Consequently, the 1995 vintage from the site was named and bottled for the first time as The Gravel Hill Shiraz. 
 
An iron fist in velvet glove, Hartenberg's flagship red, previously only available at the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction. A dark centered, black-red and ruby rim. Elegant, black fruit with violets, cloves, smokiness and black pepper on the bouquet. The palate shows sweet ripe fruit, spicy oak, elegance and rich, dry tannins made for the long haul. The palate ends with a lingering, savoury finish.

Hartenberg Estate Wine, The Stork Shiraz is rich and mouth filling with loads of black fruit, violets, cherries.