THE BOSS 2008

Sometimes I have a wine that’s a winner... Like for instance the EYE OF THE STORM Shiraz / Zinfandel 2007. I released the wine without a price. I gave away cases of wine and asked my clients to pay me whatever they think the wine is worth to them. I then sold the balance of the wine for the average price they paid me. SOLD OUT in 4 weeks.

“The BOSS” is based on the success of “EYE OF THE STORM”. The Shiraz grows on the Simonsberg on a yellow Clovelly soil type. I started the blend with 2 batches of Shiraz. The one was elegant and spicy and the other was vibrant, juicy, full and exciting. The whole is , like always, better than the sum of the parts. I therefore used the vibrant batch to add freshness and fullness to the wine and the other batch I brought in for elegance and spice.

Zinfandel is a fascinating grape. It has rich wild fruit to it with heaps of intensity and character. Maybe a bit too much on its own but fascinating none the less. 10% did the trick. The final blend was 40% of the vibrant fresh Shiraz, 50% elegant spicy Shiraz and 10% wild Zinfandel. I call the wine; BLANKbottle The BOSS. It’s big, assertive, with character but gentle once you get to know him... Analysis: Alcohol (% vol.) 14% Volatile acidity (g/l) 0.420.42 Free SO2 (mg/l) 31.7 pH 3.43 Total Acidity (g/l) 6.2 Residual sugar (g/l) 5