Rustenberg Old Vine Muscat of Alexandria 2021 Half Bottle

Rustenberg Old Vine Muscat of Alexandria, South Africa, 2021 Half Bottle

Grape: 100% Muscat of Alexandria, alluvial schist over clay soil, hand picked, 180.4g/L residual sugar

A balanced sweet wine with beautiful freshness & texture; exhibiting aromas and flavours of pineapple, litchi, melon, jasmine and spice.

Critic's Tasting Note:

"Evocative perfume of roses and honey with quince and jasmine and enough balancing acid. A long barley sugar finish."

94/100 points, International Wine Challenge, 2023

Also awarded 91 points (4.5 Stars) in Platter's Wine Guide, 2023

This wine has been made using a centuries-old process of fortifying grape juice in order to produce a sweet dessert-style wine.

Planted in 1932 on the banks of the Nel’s river in the acclaimed sweet wine producing region of Calitzdorp (a small area situated in the middle of the Klein Karoo semi-desert in South Africa’s Western Cape), the single vineyard used to make this wine survived the many floods and droughts experienced in the area, diminishing in size over time. It was saved from being pulled out to make way for a peach orchard in 2020 and has been registered with the South African Old Vine Project, a valuable initiative aimed at preserving these wonderful older vineyards for present and future generations.

For the winemaking process, ripe grapes are harvested, crushed and allowed 36 hours skin contact before being pressed and the juice fortified with neutral grape spirit without any fermentation. The grape spirit preserves the natural flavours and sugar of the juice while ensuring that no fermentation can take place in the wine. This very stable sweet wine can be aged for many decades under ideal cellaring conditions and will become richer and more concentrated over time.

Drink with fruit based desserts.