Fusion News

          THE NEWSLETTER OF           

DE TOREN PRIVATE CELLAR

February 2003

De Toren Fusion V 2000 Shines amongst the Stars     

Wein Wisser, the Swiss Academy for Wine, celebrated its 10 year birthday with a World Cabernet Tasting, the Wein Wisser Cup and the Wein Wisser Gala Dinner all at The Mövenpick Hotel, Regensdorf, outside Zurich.

Renè Gabriel (The Parker of Switzerland) selected 24 of the world's top Cabernet based wines from every continent. Represented were Bordeaux, Italy, California, Australia, Israel, Spain, Chile, Austria, Argentina, New  Zealand, Lebanon and of course South Africa. The "Welt-Cabernet-Degustation" took the format of 150 guests each paying Swiss Franc's (Sfr) 170.00 to take part in the tasting, and a judging panel of 10 specialist judges. The judging panel consisted of specialist wine journalists, wine dealers, and a sommelier. The tasting was done blind in 4 flights of 6 wines each. The public consisted of mainly wine dealers, representatives and importers, journalist, sommeliers and some serious wine collectors. All the wines for a flight would be poured. The public would enter their scores on a document provided and these were collected after each flight and entered into the computer. At the same time the judges would present their score on a flip chart, much like in a gymnastics competition. Renè would then get one or two of the judges to comment on the wine and explain the reasons for their scores.

The first flight kicked off with 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 from Penfolds, Australia (Sfr 100), 1998 Col Solare, Marchese Piero Antinori/Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Valley Washington (Sfr 110), 1998 Montrose, St Estèphe, Bordeaux (Sfr 80), 1999 Almaviva, Baron Phillipe de Rothschild/Concha y Toro Maio Valley, Chile (Sfr 85), 1998 Comte de Peney, Domaine des Balisiers, Jean Daniel Schlaefer und Gerard Pillon, Satigny Genf (Sfr 40), 1998 Sassicaia, Marchese Nicolo Incisa della Rochetta San Guido, Tuscany (Sfr 120).

The second flight consisted of 2000 De Toren Fusion V, South Africa (Sfr 39), 1998 Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux (Sfr 250), 1997 Castel Schwanburg, Cabernet Sauvignon, Italy (Sfr 42.50), 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Mas La Plana, Miguel Torres, Spain (Sfr 42.50), 1999 Viader, Napa Valley (Sfr 110), and 1998 Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon, South Africa (Sfr 26.50).

The third flight had: 1997 Robert Mondavi, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Napa Valley (Sfr 178), 2000 Cadus Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina, (Sfr 48) 1999 Johns Blend, John Glaetzer, Barossa Valley, Australia (Sfr 58), 1998 Cigalus, Gerard Bertrand, Saint-Andre de Roquelongue (Sfr 55), 1999 Don Maximiano Founders Reserve, Vina Errazuriz, Chile (Sfr 78) 2000 Weingut Kollwentz-Romerhof, Cabernet Sauvignon (Sfr 59).

The last flight had: 1998 Sprit of Marlborough, Herzog Winery, New Zealand (Sfr 65), 1999 Profile Merryvale Vineyards, Napa Valley (Sfr 159), 1998 Castel Grand Vin, Haut-Judëe (Sfr 70), 2000 Gabbro, Fabio Chiarelotto, Montepoloso, Tuscany (Sfr 89), 2000 Clos d'Agon, Vino de Mesa de Calonge, Spain (Sfr 69), 1998 Comte de M, Chateau Kefraya, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon (Sfr 100).

De Toren Fusion V 2000 was voted the 5th best wine by the public and the 10th best wine by the judging panel. At Sfr 39.00 per bottle (+-R 235.00) Fusion V shows excellent value for money.

THE JUDGING PANEL

The Judging panel displaying their score for Mas Plana from Miguel Torres in Spain

Public Scores and Ranking 

1. 1999 Profile Napa Valley, Merryvale Vineyards                     17.66

2. 2000 Clos d’Agon Tinto, Vino de Mesa de Calonge                17.54

3. 2000 Gabbro, Toscana IGT, Azienda Agricola Montepeloso   17.34

4. 1997 Cabernet Sauv Reserve, Napa Valley, Robert Mondavi   17.25

5. 2000 Fusion V, South Africa, De Toren Private Cellar           17.06

6. 1998 Castel Grand Vin, Domaine du Castel, Haute Judée         17.03

7. 1999 Langhorne Creek, Individual Selection, John’s Blend     17.00

8. 2000 Cadus Mendoza, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bodegas Nieto     16.99

9. 1999 Viader Napa Valley.                                                       16.98

10. 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Burgenland, Anton Kollwentz      16.87

Panel Scores and Ranking

1. 2000 Gabbro, Toscana IGT, Azienda Agricola Montepeloso   18.00

2. 1998 Castel Grand Vin, Domaine du Castel, Haute Judée          17.50

3. 2000 Clos d’Agon Tinto, Vino de Mesa de Calonge                 17.40

4. 1997 Cabernet Sauv Reserve, Napa Valley, Robert Mondavi    17.30

5. 1998 Chateau Montrose, 2 ème Cru Classë, St-Estëphe           17.30

6. 1998 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, 1er Grand Cru Pauillac       17.30

7. 1999 Kanonkop Estate, Cabernet Sayvignon, South Africa      17.30

8. 1999 Viader Napa Valley.                                                         17.30

9. 1999 Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve, Villa Errazuriz         17.20

10. 2000 Fusion V, South Africa, De Toren Private Cellar           17.1

SOME OF THE PARTICIPANTS AT THE WELT-CABERNET-DEGUSTATION

                 

   Patrick Lèon from Mouton Rothchild      Delia Viader from Viader     Peter Sisseck-Pingus              Peter Keller Journalist

The Secrets of our Success  (Part Two)

Eliminating Elements of Torture
We believe that some of the unwanted and harsh tannins in grape skins are released due to harsh handling of the skins.

We have therefore designed a system that feeds our de-stemmer with a continuous and controlled supply of grapes all the time. This means that the de-stemmer runs at a constant speed and never labours through heavy loads of grapes. The results are de-stemmed berries that are still whole. We then also do not crush the grapes. Whole berries are collected in bins specially designed for the purpose.

These bins are collected by forklift and then poured into the fermenting tanks. (See below).

No worms or screws are used. These are elements of torture and damage skins, releasing unwanted tannins.

 After fermentation our wine is transported through the cellar by our ingeniously designed gravity system. In the tower ("De Toren") we have a 4000l tank which is hoisted or lowered to the right position to achieve gravity flow for the whole cellar. We even bottle from this tank.

Albie Koch busy hoisting our gravity "pump" in "De Toren"

Detailed planning creates great results - just ask Albie.

     

Fusion V 2001 Vintage Bottled!

The 2001 Fusion V was bottled in December 2002. The wine will be labeled by March 2003 and then we will start the laborious process of manually wrapping each bottle and carefully packing it into the wooden crates. De Toren Fusion V 2001 will be available in the stores by June 2003. 

We believe the Fusion V 2001 is the finest expression of our craftsmanship to date, but we will let the judges decide! 

The wine has a whopping 14.5% Alcohol by Volume, pH of 3.80 and acidity of 5.5g/l, was fermented  dry to 1,89g/l sugar level. For the first time also we did a small percentage of malolactic fermentation in new oak barrels. 

Only 3000 cases were made. Allocations were cut to most markets due to the slightly smaller production. 

De Toren Natural Blackberry Liqueur Bottled

The long awaited Blackberry liqueur has eventually been bottled and is ready for distribution.

We've had rave reviews about this product, which prompted us to enter it for the annual International Wine and Spirits Competition in London later this year. The liqueur is totally natural and consists only of the extract of fresh blackberries, alcohol and sugar. No additives or colorants have been added.

The bottle will be packed as a single in a black wooden box. which really rounds off a classy presentation. 

The Blackberry Liqueur will be available from our usual distributors from March 2003

2003 Harvest

Cool temperatures and no diseases summarize the season of 2003. We experienced some uneven budding in the Cabernet Sauvignon which we corrected at veraisson with green harvesting. 

The merlot looks stunning and so does the Malbec.

This year saw the introduction of Neutron Moisture Soil Analysis and infrared aerial photography of the vineyards. The Neutron Moisture meters help us in controlling stress in the vineyards. Aerial photography identifies patches to be harvested separately as it also helps us to set up a long term plan of correcting sections of the vineyards that do not perform optimally. 

Overall we are expecting a great year for quality. The quantity will also see us increasing our total production. This could only be good news for lovers of Fusion V.

Phase 3 of Cellar completed

Those who visited De Toren in the past will remember the derelict building in front of the cellar. Renovations now allow for loading platforms and a bottling area to smooth our operations.  

                  

With insulated walls and air conditioning, we can now store        100 000 bottles in a perfect environment. 

Escargot alle Francais

In one of our newsletters you will remember that we hand harvest snails at De Toren. 

These snails are then processed and exported to France as "escargot". Iva Puel-Clements from Elezane Industries who are the motivators of the project arranged a tasting of our snails at The Decameron Restaurant in Stellenbosch.. With some Laurent Perrier Champagne, Fusion V and more wine from other producers, we had a great lunch and really enjoyed the fruits of our labour.

This meal just proved that South Africa not only makes some great wines, they also produce some of the world's tastiest snails.

Visit our Website:http://www.de-toren.com/

 

Email us at:   info@de-toren.com

 

 

Phone us at:  +27(0)21 881 3119

 

Fax us at:    +27(0)21 881 3335

                 

  Until next time....

                         

          Emil and Sonette den Dulk

 

DE TOREN PRIVATE CELLAR

Stellenbosch

South Africa