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GRACELAND VINEYARDS Stellenbosch
Paul and Sue McNaughton
Paul and Sue bought Graceland Vineyards in 1990, and have spent the last 15 years building the reputation of Graceland as a small producer of extremely high quality wines. Sue is the viticulturalist, involving herself in not just a managerial role, but actually “getting her hands dirty”. She physically helps pick grapes, personally controls the fermentation process and regularly falls into the fermentation vats! There is a dedicated and loyal team that help with the picking, involving staff, friends and family members.
Paul primarily looks after the commercial side of the business, however if help is needed, it's all hands on deck!
The Estate
Graceland is an eighteen hectare Estate, set in the middle of the “golden mile” of top quality producers around five miles south of Stellenbosch.
South/south east facing slopes give rise to planting of three different varieties of grapes. Sand over clay is the predominant soil variety allowing good drainage and forcing the vines to push roots deep into the clay to find nutrients. Vines that have to work hard, generally produce better quality wines. Drip irrigation is used when necessary if rainfall is insufficient.
Plantings are Cabernet Sauvignon 4 ha, Merlot 3 ha and Shiraz 3.5 ha.
Graceland wines
Hand-picked and hand-selection of the grapes are the best possible start that a wine can have. Only the grapes that have achieved the desired level of ripeness will be used. Crushing and destalking followed by traditional open vat fermentation with skin contact, using wax lined concrete vats give wines with wonderful concentration, firm tannins and great structure. A period of Malo-Lactic fermentation will allow acidity to balance with tannin.
Sue does not believe in filtering or fining, as this will, without doubt, dilute natural aromas and flavours and so the wines will be racked 3 times with no further clarification. However racking is carried out carefully and the resulting wines are clear and bright.
Click here to visit the Graceland Vineyards site
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| The sublime shiraz |
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Lovely Sue McNaughton with her wonderful selection of wines
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