Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Treinspoor is textbook in its display of darker blueberry, spicy and herbal aromas with graphite aromas. The tannins are present in volumes, but as is the case throughout the 2022 wines, they are incredibly smooth and rounded. The purity in this wine and the focused fruit purity make for a very serious wine with many layers and textures.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2022 Treinspoor is pure Swartland Tinta Barocca that includes 50% whole clusters, 20 to 28 days on the skins and matured in old foudres. The bouquet is a little plusher on the nose than the Pofadder, with crushed rose petals and fynbos - garrigue. Stunning delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, perfectly balanced, and a touch of graphite. It’s quite saline on the finish with a pinch of white pepper.. Sadie reckons this grape variety is a long-term player, and I've no reason to disagree. Sublime.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Stately and refined on the nose, the 2022 Old Vine Series Treinspoor expresses dark red fruit with ripe black cherry and spiced plum essences. Medium-bodied and with 13% alcohol, the palate displays elegance and finesse, offering a balanced frame of fine-grained tannins with seductive mineral tension. For those who have never tried this bottling, many elements will be familiar and pleasurable, offering fantastic action with layers of complexity before ending with a long lingering finish that shines with bold tannins.
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Wine & Spirits
Made from a single vineyard of 45-year-old tinta barroca bush vines planted next to the old train track (whence the name), this is a fresh, bright red with violet scents layered into the rich cherry fruit. The goblet training helps to protect the thin-skinned grapes from the sun, the aromatic freshness amping up even further with the inclusion of 50 percent whole clusters and gentle “bucket-overs” to limit extraction during fermentation. Its acidity brings plenty of lift along with brambly accents in the aromas. It’s a light, juicy wine and while it might not have stature per se, it has plenty of presence and is—most importantly—just delicious.
Beyond the usual suspects, there are hundreds of red grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines, while others are better suited for use as blending grapes. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles, offering much to be discovered by the curious wine lover. In particular, Portugal and Italy are known for having a multitude of unique varieties but they can really be found in any region.
Literally meaning "the black land," Swartland takes its name from the endangered, indigenous "renosterbos" (translating to rhino bush), which used to be plentiful enough to turn the entire landscape a dark color certain during times of year. The district, attracting some of the most adventurous and least interventionist winemakers, excels in robust and full-bodied reds as well as quality fortified wines.