The Ladybird, Laibach, 2015

TASTING NOTES

Vintage 2015 was an absolute amazing year and this wine is a perfect testament to that. All the grapes are grown organically on our farm. Vineyards are on average around 12–14 years old which is a very good age in Stellenbosch. We had a very good winter leading up to this vintage with enough cold days and enough rain. This allowed for even budding and with no real threats of diseases in flowering, it was perfect. Very moderate temperature during harvest time which for us is usually around end of February helped the grapes to slowly ripen. We had some of the coldest nights for February ever. This of course helped for colour and fruit development.

We pick everything by hand at Laibach and some batches are cooled down over night. Each block and varietal is treated differently and skin contact can be anything from 3 -35 days. Extraction methods depend on vintage and we do not use any recipes at Laibach at all. Every year new canvas and new painting with less and less input. Most of the reds were fermented with wild yeast and no enzymes or tartaric acid was added. The wine spent at least 12 months in oak with almost no new barrels used. We only use French oak. The wine was sterile filtered and bottled during August 2016.

Deep dark colour, with lots of dark fruit and wild spice. Medium to full bodied, with oodles of fruit on the palate and fantastic chewy tannins. A dry finish with a perfect harmony between alcohol and acid, full of complexity and depth. A wine that absolutely over delivers and a true testament of what Laibach is all about.