Allesverloren Shiraz, Swartland

Description

Allesverloren Shiraz is a South African red wine made in the Swartland wine-growing region.

The Allesverloren Estate lies approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Cape Town and is situated situated on the south-eastern slopes of the Kasteelberg near Riebeek. It is the oldest wine estate in the Swartland Wine of Origin district. The history of the estate dates back to between 1696 and 1704, when the governor of the Cape left it to a widow named Cloete. Cloete was one of the first settlers who ventured into the inhospitable Swartland region. The early settlers were simple people, with only the most limited agricultural equipment and basic necessities to support themselves. In order to purchase tools or attend church, they had to undertake a long and arduous wagon journey along primitive roads to Stellenbosch. It was on their return from one such journey in 1704 that the settlers found their house burnt to the ground and the farm destroyed. Hence the estate’s sad name, Allesverloren, which means “all is lost”.

The Allesverloren estate passed into the hands of the Malan family in 1872 and has gone on to become one of Swartland’s most famous. Current owner and cellar master Danie Malan and his late father, Fanie, were among the early modern wine pioneers of the Swartland, ably demonstrating the outstanding wine-growing potential of what was once considered the breadbasket of the Cape.

The grapes for Allesverloren Shiraz were sourced from trellised, south-facing vineyards planted in Table Mountain sand stone and Malmesbury shale, some 60m to 300m above sea level. The grapes are hand harvested and the The juice was fermented on the skins for five to seven days at 25°C. After malolactic fermentation the wine was aged in small oak barrels for 15 months.