Riverine Red Wine Swartland 2021 250ml

ABOUT Putting wine into a can is still a pretty new trend, and putting red wine into a can is even newer. Francois Haasbroek, the Riverine winemaker, wanted to make an approachable red wine that could be enjoyed like his other two Riverine canned wines: in a portable, lightweight vessel perfect for outings on the beach, BBQs, and pretty much anywhere else you’d crack open a beer. Putting wine in a can does not mean that the wine is inherently poor quality – far from it. For Riverine, the wine remains the priority. They achieve this by sourcing excellent fruit from excellent vineyards, and lots and lots of time spent doing R&D on canned wine shelf-life stability. This Syrah-dominant blend is sourced from vineyards in West Riebeek (Swartland) where bushvines are grown on koffieklip, shale, and granite. And since a portion of sales goes to protecting the Riverine Rabbit, what more could you want from your canned wine? Grapes were hand harvested and de-stemmed. Without being crushed, grapes were placed into stainless steel vats where they completed fermentation at 73 degrees F over the course of 10 days, with regular pump overs for better color and skin tannin extraction. The wines remained in their fermentation vessels for 8 months before being fined, filtered, and bottled in proprietary cans with just small dosage of sulfur for good measure. DATA Grapes: 85% Syrah - 15% Grenache Vineyard: Knolfontein (Riebeek West) Vine Age: 10-years-old Soil Type: Coffee rock, shale and granite Viticulture: Certified biodynamic – dry-farmed Fermentation: Inoculated – stainless-steel (100% whole-berry) Skin Contact: 10 days Aging: 8 months in stainless-steel Alcohol: 13.4% pH: 3.57 Total Acidity: 5.1 g/L Total SO2: 97 ppm Total Production: 1,100 cases UPC: 6009879826883 TASTING NOTE Meant to be drunk straight from the can, the nose is less the point of interest here than the delicious concoction inside. Red plums, black cherries, and bay leaves appear on the palate, with retronasal wafts of black pepper, lavender, and fynbos. Very juicy and supple, with easy-going tannins. Try chilling it slightly in the summertime!