Description
CELLAR INFORMATION A delayed, but good, winter rainfall allowed for adequate replenishing of reserves. A cool and wet spring allowed soil profiles to become well saturated. Winter was not as cold as the previous year but there was sufficient building up of reserves. A cool budding period was experienced with delayed bud break. Veraison occurred later and ripening was prolonged due to low day temperatures which allowed for exceptional colour and flavour in the berries. A vintage showing high quality wines with good ageing potential. 17 months in French oak barrels, 35 % new. VINEYARD INFORMATION Helderberg, Stellenbosch. West & North-West facing slopes. Decomposed granite – Tukulu. 420 m above sea level. 9 km from False Bay .
Reviews
Greg Sherwood 95+
"It is impossible not to be positively influenced by the 2021 vintage on this new release bottle of Cabernet Franc! Fortunately, the Mira 2021 delivers in spades, boasting rich, intricate aromatics of floral perfume, berry fruit, and oak spice. The bouquet leads with a medley of pressed violets, cherry blossom, and sweet cedar spice before ripe, bright notes of wild strawberry, red currant, and red plum surge to the fore. The oak is delicate, caressing, and finely integrated, expressing itself with a delicate spicy sapidity and a gentle vanilla pod kiss. On the palate, the wine is impressively silky, smooth, and harmonious, with bright, racy acids underpinning weightlessly textured layers of red currant, blackberry, and boysenberry fruits. A wonderfully precise, articulate wine that continues Uva Mira’s sterling reputation for producing premium, eye-catching Cabernet Franc wines in the Helderberg. Drink on release and over the next 10 to 12+ years." [Greg Sherwood, 22/02/2024]
Producer Profile
Given owner Toby Venter’s assumed need for speed, as CEO of LSM Distributors, responsible for Porsche and Lamborghini in South Africa, as well as the owners of Kyalami race track, his purchase of Uva Mira Mountain Vineyards in 2013, up against the slopes of the Helderberg seems in direct contrast to this high octane lifestyle.
Everything in wine is time. Uva Mira is named for a famous star in the constellation of Cetus (a Greek sea monster who was offered the princess Andromeda to appease Poseidon but was slain by Perseus either by sword or using Medusa’s head which turned him to stone – the details are complicated and murky). The giant red star named ‘the wonderful’ or ‘Mira’ in Latin undergoes a 332-day cycle of fading into obscurity, becoming bright, and then fading again (over almost a year), drawing parallels between winemaking and stargazing. The patience inherent to growing grapes, understanding the terroir, blending, and maturation, the once-a-year opportunity to harvest, and the celebration once you can taste the literal fruits of your labour – explains the name Uva Mira, Latin meaning The Wonderful Grape.
