De Waal Top of the Hill rated on top

Uiterwyk Estate in Stellenbosch has been a De Waal family concern since 1864. Chris, Pieter and Daniël de Waal are the ninth generation of the family involved in winemaking in South Africa. The wines combine Old World finesse and New World abundant fruit.

One of the De Waals’ favourite cultivar wines is Pinotage, especially those made from the Top of the Hill vineyard on Uiterwyk. They have created absolute fine wines from this homegrown varietal. Last year Daniël de Waal entered his sixth Absa Top 10 Pinotage winner after an absence of four years, with the DeWaal Top of the Hill Pinotage 2006. The De Waal family previously entered five winning wines in six years, from 1998 to 2003, and this year also had one in the twenty finalists.

But it is not only the local judges who acknowledge the high quality of these wines. De Waal Wines this year was proud that yet again the De Waal Top of the Hill Pinotage 2003 was rated as one of the Top 10 varietal wines from South Africa by Decanter Magazine. It received five stars.

The Top-of-the-Hill Pinotage is made from an almost 60-year-old single vineyard and only in those years that Daniël de Waal deems it of exceptional quality. 

The Decanter  tasting notes included the following: “Smooth and focused with gently spiced, brambly fruit, plums and leather. This is a slick job. The acidity is knitted in really nicely, bringing a fresh edge to the palate”.

Crafted from 60 year old Pinotage vines and matured in new French oak for 24 months, this bold red is a classic. Pinotage as a grape is vindicated by Decanter with the duty of creating a world class wine squarely falling to the winemaker’s talent.

DEWAAL TOP OF THE HILL PINOTAGE 2003

WINEMAKER’S TASTING NOTES
Ink dark wine with intense flavours of rich black plum fruit, cigars, dark chocolate and spiciness

IN THE VINEYARD
Location of vineyard: On warmer north facing slopes
Soil type: Gravel & loam
Age of vineyard: 55-60 years
Rootstock: R99
Method of trellising: Bush vines

THE HARVEST
Sugar level at harvest: 24.5º B
Yield per hectare: 3.5 tons/ha

IN THE CELLAR
Cellar barrel maturation: 21 months 225-litre French barriques (100% new)
Bottling date: 09/05/2005
Market release date: June 2006

AGEING POTENTIAL
10 - 20 years

ACCOLADES
Four previous vintages (1996, 1997, 2000 & 2001) have been worthy of this honour and all have received the Absa Top 10 Pinotage award. The Top-of-the-Hill Pinotage wines also boast with 4 and 5 stars in John Platters Wine Guide, was awarded WINE magazine Pinotage Champion and received Double gold at the Veritas Awards. Daniël de Waal received the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year award for the 2001 DeWaal Top of the Hill Pinotage.