FusionNews

Fusion News

THE NEWSLETTER OF

DE TOREN PRIVATE CELLAR

January 2004

De Toren Fusion V adjudged the "Best Red Wine" at Winex

BEST WINE ON SHOW COMPETITION

For the 2003 show, WineX introduced the “Best Wine on Show Award” in partnership with 702 Talk Radio. Visitors to WineX were issued with a ‘scorecard’ upon which they had to vote the best red and white wines tasted during the course of the evening. De Toren Fusion V 2001 was chosen as the best red wine out of over 180 Wineries and nearly 1000 different wines on show. There were around 9000 visitors at the show and the majority voted Fusion V as the best!

Hot off the press Ratings

91 De Toren Fusion V Coastal Region 2001 $32.00 Very sleek, polished, modern style, with loads of ripe, dark blackberry and black currant fruit, and a healthy dose of sweet smoke as well. Deceptively concentrated, this glides really easily across the palate to a lengthy finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot.

86 Diversity Beta Western Cape 2001 $ 20.00 Has a mix of red and black cherry fruit, along with dried herb and pepper notes. Supple though the herbal edge may be too much for some. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.

MORE GOOD NEWS:

92 Points for Fusion V in SWITZERLAND

Expovina is the annual wine competition, much like Veritas in South Africa, held in Switzerland. This competition was held on Lake Zurich during October 2003. More than 2088 wines were entered from 10 countries. Switzerland alone entered over 1200 wines, 890 entries came from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, California and of course South Africa. Only 14% of the entries were awarded Gold medals .

De Toren Fusion V was awarded 92 points and a gold medal!

Diversity Beta 2001 was awarded a silver medal at the same event.

Fusion V 2001 "SPITZENKLASSE"

"CASH" the biggest weekly financial paper in Switzerland recommended 14 wines of the world as "spitzenklasse" (top class) for a "Pretty Christmas" (issue 12 December 2003).

Two South African wines made the list of 14 wines from all over the world and De Toren Fusion V cruised in with 91 points.

They describe Fusion V as: Deep, almost black in color. Inviting, elegant bouquet that signals depth. Power, combined with elegance fills the mouth. Perfectly integrated tannins and acidity. Notes of cassis and coffee. Very long aftertaste. Drink now to 2008.

Softly, Gently and Softly (The Secrets of our Success, Part 5)

In the previous parts of this article we shared with you the extent of our selection processes in the vineyards and our sorting tables to obtain only the very best grapes.

We are very particular that these very specially selected grapes arrive at the cellar within one hour of harvesting.

With all the good work done, we would like to get the grapes into the fermentors in the shortest possible time and still unscathed.

We find that bruised grapes deteriorate in quality much quicker than healthy grapes, much like an apple turning brown soon after it is sliced. Therefore we hand pick in small lug boxes. The sorting conveyor then deposits the grapes on an incline

conveyor. The incline conveyor takes the grapes in predetermined batches through to the de-stemmer. Pre-determined batch sizes are important because this ensures that the de-stemmer never labours, which result in damaged grapes and skins. Here the grapes are only de-stemmed but not crushed. Crushing releases rough, unwanted tannins from the skins and that

we do not want. These grapes are then dropped into a gondola and is transported to the fermentors

in these bins, by fork lift. No worms, screws or pumps are used. We call these elements of torture and do not want to subject our grapes to these procedures. Worms, screws and pumps again release those unwanted tannins by damaging grape skins.

By now we have the grapes unscathed in the small fermenting tanks. The de-stemmed grapes are now cooled down to 10ºC in the fermentors for a 24 hour period. The process is called "cold soaking" and now we are extracting the flavours and juices just prior to us initiating the fermentation process.

Next time......."Pumps are banned"

Great Launch for Diversity

Most of you would have tasted our new Diversity range by now. Diversity is the brand we created to complement De Toren Fusion V. Every year after blending we have parcels of wine left over. This we combine with parcels that was in excess of our requirements for the Fusion V blend and it is bottled under the name of Diversity. We released Alpha, Beta and Gamma in one year so that our consumers can fully experience the Diversity in the blends.

The 2000 blend called Alpha was 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and got rated 3 Stars by Wine Magazine in South Africa. The

2001 blend called Beta contained Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot and got a 4 star rating from the same magazine. The 2002 blend called

Diversity Trio Pack containing Alpha, Beta and Gamma - as launched recently

Gamma contained all 5 the varieties used in Fusion V but was Cabernet franc dominated. (36% Cabernet franc, 31% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauv, 10% Petit Verdot and 8% Malbec.)

At half the price of De Toren Fusion V we believe we are delivering excellent value for money. In fact Wine Magazine recommended Diversity Beta as one of the "canniest investments from all the wines reviewed" (Wine - May 2003) We have a couple of gift pack (pictured) available direct from the the winery. (R 285.00 per pack) Please fax or e mail your orders.

Pairing food with Fusion V

Many lovers of Fusion V have asked about food pairing with Fusion V. Bruce Robertson, Executive Chef at the world renowned Cape Grace Hotel in Cape Town made the following comments and suggested food pairings, including his own Veal "Fusion V" Wellington:

"Fusion V 2001 is an incredible wine of change. A full nose explosion with an acknowledgement of berries that slowly gives into the elegance and charm of a beautifully balanced harmony of top grape varieties. Leaving the tongue like a desert; sweet dreams." Bruce Robertson Executive Chef- Cape Grace

What was picked up by the senses through the "age" process of the wine, exposed to air:

Starting - Dark Berries, Prunes & Plums (The stewed fruit with a hint of cinnamon and cloves)

Middle - Nuts, Star anis, Smokiness and Hint of Mushrooms

Finish - Leaving the mouth with a light cream, silky coating.

The recommended dish calls for an elegant meat to ideally pair with this wine.

An elegant wine of such structure demands an uncomplicated, un-robust and soft partner such as a game bird of discerning quality or possibly duck (Magret)

Young lamb or veal of a subtle cut like Noisette or cutlet.

HONEY ROASTED MAGRET

stuffed with stewed prunes, pine nuts and mascarpone

on a lattice breast of caramelized butternut

and sauced with hint of cappuccino.

or

VEAL "FUSION V" WELLINGTON

tender cutlet, lightly sautéed and served

with a cream crepe of mushrooms

and mustard, sauce bordelaise

or just with

WHITE PEARL CHEESE

panned in roasted unsalted nuts

and served with a stewed fruit chutney

"Beautiful!"

New Vineyards for Fusion V

Fusion V 2002 bottled and packed

Contact us:

Website www.de-toren.com

Email 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 Polkadraai Road, Stellenbosch, South Africa

In front of the main dwelling and cellar we used to have a Chardonnay vineyard. These grapes were sold off annually as a cash crop. However there is such a demand for Fusion V and we decided to remove the Chardonnay and plant more Cabernet Sauvignon,

Above: Wheat now covers the area where we are going to replant.

Cabernet franc and Merlot. 96 Profile holes were dug on 4,5 ha land to do soil analysis. To the varying soil types we married varieties, rootstocks, clones and planting widths. New row directions and row widths were determined according to the latest technology.

In 5 years time we should have more Fusion V !

De Toren Fusion V 2002 is ready and packed.

No you can not have any supplies yet!

It is our policy to bottle age our wines for 9 months before release. So you will have to wait until 1 June 2004 to get your hands on a bottle.

Our 2002 Vintage turned out as good as we expected. The final blend was determined over three weeks through panels of lovers of Fusion V, wine judges, distributors, wine writers and ourselves.

The 2002 blend is made up as follows: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 14% Malbec, 8% Cabernet franc and 4% Petit Verdot.

To ensure your allocation feel free to put your name on the list by either e- mailing or faxing us.