Middelvlei Free Run Pinotage

tasting note:

Middelvlei Free Run Pinotage This unique South African variety has complex flavors of raspberries, mulberries and elegant oak spice. The soft tannins are nicely balanced by the fruit weight with creamy vanilla flavors that linger on the palate.

Middelvlei

History

In 1919, two brothers, Marthinus and Niels Momberg, bought Middelvlei and moved their families into the farm.

A year later, the first wines were pressed, at that stage mainly fortified wines. Their two sons, Stiljan (quiet Jan) and his nephew, also called Jan but Jan Bek (because of his more extroverted and eloquent personality), inherited the farm in 1960. In 1963, Stiljan bought half of his cousin's shares in the farm to start a sole proprietorship. Jan Bek subsequently bought the nearby Neethlingshof estate and then went into politics.

Over the next 30 years, Stiljan began establishing one of the model wine farms in the district.

Today

Today, brothers Ben and Tinnie Momberg apply the knowledge passed down over three generations of winemaking to produce wines of exceptional quality and reputation.

As a family winery, the Mombergs ensure that the lessons passed down from father to son are preserved and respected, while still accommodating modern trends and new techniques in the wine industry. The beautiful 52-acre farm is known for its red wines, and Tinnie has shown his talents with his specialty, the Free-run Pinotage, a unique wine made through natural, unpressed processes that sets it apart from its peers.

Winemaking

Based on traditional winemaking methods, the cellar features a combination of both old and new techniques refined by more than 100 years of family winemaking.

Our destemmer/crusher gently removes the stems from the grapes and crushes the berries to minimize hard tannins in the wine. Another more modern addition is a new must chiller to cool the crushed berries prior to the fermentation process, better preserving fruit flavors. However, in keeping with methods passed down from father to son, the grapes are fermented in traditional open cement tanks and our cellar uses a gravity system to move the wine rather than using machine pumps.

The cellar also houses an aging facility for 300 oak barrels (225 liters each), mostly French oak, with a small selection of American oak to provide additional variety in developing the wood structure for particular wines. The wines are then bottled on the farm using a mobile bottling line.

The estate

Nestled in the heart of Stellenbosch, at the foot of the picturesque Devon Valley and overlooking the Bottelary Hills, the Middelvlei winery is home to the Momberg family. Their story begins in 1919, when two brothers bought the farm, and has grown for more than a hundred years around a strong sense of tradition and family ideals. Today, brothers Ben and Tinnie Momberg apply the knowledge passed down over three generations of winemaking to produce wines of exceptional quality and reputation.

Middelvlei