Rockview Ridge

Serve with crispy skinned duck and plum pancakes.

At Shannon Vineyards our focus on viticulture principles reflects our commitment to winemaking as an expression of terroir. Making fine wines is our ongoing aspiration and to that end we have assembled a talented team who share our passion. Our grapes come from exceptional mountain hillside vineyards above the banks of the Peninsula Dam in the Elgin Valley. These unique vineyard sites combined with the highly experienced viticultural team of Kevin Watt and James Downes and a winemaking philosophy of minimal intervention followed by the winemakers Gordon Johnson and Nadia Cilliers produce wines with distinctive personalities. Each wine has a sense of place. They are seductive and memorable for their complexity structure and elegance.

South, South East and east facing slopes from heavy “na-bank (Afrikaans) clays and iron enriched Bokkeveld shales to silica quartz encrusted Table Mountain Sandstones.

100% matured in barriques (228L) for approximately 12 months using a blend of 3 Burgundian cooperages. The oak used is of a tighter grain and medium toasted. New oak -20%, 2nd fill -40%, 3rd fill -40%.

The Pinot Noir bunches are chilled to 3°C before being sorted on a conveyor and de-stemmed. Berries are then hand sorted, before cold maceration ensues for 3 to 6 days at 8°C. Slower fermenting cultured yeasts are used for some of the fermentations while ± 80% of the blend is naturally/wild fermented. Fermentation temperatures vary between 26 -30°C, depending on the nature of the sites. After pressing, the wine is racked and left to complete its malolactic fermentation and maturation in oak barriques.