Old Vines Wines

SPRING VALLEY

Women's Empowerment Wines

Shiraz Merlot 2001:

Old Vines Wine Cellars, the home of top quality, bottle-aged Chenin Blancs, has broken from tradition and launched its first red wine in a move that will benefit women's empowerment in the winelands of the Cape. Produced by mother and daughter team, Irina von Holdt and Françoise Botha, the introduction of the Shiraz Merlot marks the third release in the Spring Valley range and the second wine to be blended by Fran Botha. According to Fran, "there has been a need for a well-rounded, top quality yet accessible red wine to complement the new range. The introduction of this wine will also allow us to be more competitive in the global trading arena, which is essential to all empowerment efforts." The Spring Valley range, which highlights Old Vines' women's empowerment efforts, will make the introduction of additional staff training and education schemes possible. Old Vines has committed to continued empowerment efforts and has provided jobs for 21 women from previously disadvantaged communities. Says Irina, "for many years we have wanted to make red wines and the release of our Shiraz Merlot blend is no doubt the first of many. In line with current drinking trends, we wanted to make a wine that offered both early accessibility and the opportunity for maturation. This blend satisfies both needs with its juicy and succulent fruit and ripe tannins." The name Spring Valley also has deeper meaning to the women at Old Vines as it was the name of their ancestral farm, which played home to generations of their family. Says Irina, "Strangely enough it was not even a wine farm. It was in the Free State and was the place where my parents met when my mother was sent to South Africa's warmer climate from then Czechoslovakia to recover after an illness. Springvalley, as the farm was known, became a source of much of our passion for quality wines and we would like to honour our family for their role in this." Tasting Notes: This exciting and full-bodied blend of 55% Shiraz and 45% Merlot achieves a delicate balancing act between the rich, ripe and velvety Shiraz fruit and the firmer more tannic Merlot. While the wine is ready to drink now, it will benefit from another one to two years of bottle maturation.