The Little SPANIARD 2011

It’s finally that time of the year where I can start releasing new
 wines (and make the bank man wipe that frown off his forehead). To 
start with a bang I decided to release the new version of The Spaniard
 (called: The Little Spaniard 2011). I am working on a rather large project (which I’m not 
at liberty to share at this point) and the Little Spaniard is a pilot 
blend and bottling of it. I’m very happy but that’s not primarily 
what’s important. The more important question is: are you?

By now most of you know the Spaniard wine well. It started off with the first release "The Spaniard 2007" (an interesting yet unusual combination of Mourvedre, Carignan, Grenache and Cinsaut). Soon after the release of The Spaniard, I made available the Educational range where we had all the individual varietals that made up the blend as single bottlings. My second vintage of The Spaniard was a fuller version of the previous Spaniard and I subsequently decided to release it as "The BIG Spaniard 2009". It's now sold out and I’m now releasing the next version of The Spaniard. I call it "The Little Spaniard 2011" - The wine is 40% Carignan, 30% Mourvedre, 20% Grenache and 10% Cinsaut. Therefore still more or less the same percentages of the same varietals but this is the little brother to the BIG Spaniard as the wine is more elegant and old world than its brother. The grapes are from vineyards around Paarl and Wellington and the wine was made in larger older French oak vessels. It comes in at a mild 13% alcohol, which is extremely low for a hot climate, Mediterranean blend like this.

ALC 13% F SO2 22 mg/l PH 3.51 REDUCING SUGAR 2.5g/l T SO2 83 mg/l TOTAL ACIDITY 6.27 g/l VOLATILE ACIDITY 0.55 g/l