Iona, One Man Band Red, South Africa, 2017

Producer Profile

At 420m above sea-level, set high above the picturesque Elgin Valley Andrew Gunn founded Iona. It is here overlooking the Atlantic ocean that he has secured some of the coolest vineyards in the Cape.

In a country where cool climate vineyards are like gold dust, these vineyards are veritable nuggets. There is an extremely long growing season, allowing Andrew to create wines with complex flavours and a fresh, elegant style. The approach is hands off and the land is farmed according to organic and biodynamic practices with a particular focus on ensuring the health of the soils whilst pests are kept under control by the resident flock of geese that roam the vineyards.

Viticulture

From the 2008 vintage, Iona have decided to produce a red blend that is reflective of the best of the red wines they produce. It is a wine that refects two very different terroirs: the warm, ripe Syrah from Brocha vineyards lower down in the Elgin Valley, and the cool, fresh Cabernet and Merlot from Iona's vineyards, high up overlooking the Atlantic. The idea behind producing this wine is to produce something that is incomparable and unique to their property.

Winemaking

Hand harvested, before being destemmed and sorted on a vibrating table, the grapes were destemmed and not crushed. Once wild fermentation had started the skin cap was softly punched down 2-3 times per day to achieve desired extraction. Post fermentation the wine underwent extended maceration; the wines were tasted regularly in order to assess the extraction level and went to press-off. Once pressed off, the wines undergo spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrel where they were aged for 12 - 16 months, in 500L French oak barrels of which is new oak