Description

VINIFICATION | 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 30% whole clusters and 70% 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.
AGEING | After pressing the wine is transferred into 45-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.
NOTES | Tinta Barocca is a grape that carries the soil into the bottle, it is a great
communicator of terroir. The grape has had a longstanding relationship with the
Swartland and the spicy herbal aromatics and dark purple plum like fruit carries over into
a very tight and compressed core of the wine. As mentioned before the tannins of Tinta
Barocca have very much the same behaviour as those of Nebbiolo and proper ageing is
required.
Historically we have referenced that Tinta Barocca might be the most significant red
variety of the historical plantings to transport the terroir and typicity of a site to bottle.
This 2024 Treinspoor starts out with some darker graphite and dried fig aromas,
transcending into violets and perfumes that transform into pencil lead aromas. It is one
of the most lifted versions, and the purple hue also suggests a new definition of Tinta
Barocca, or at least for us. The tannins are multi-layered and dense with a firm finish. This
is an absolute block of a wine with a lingering forever taste. Please afford this wine time.