Sulphur dioxide is one of the oldest known food additives and has been used in wine since ancient times when sulphur was burnt before sealing the wine in the barrels. It also develops naturally in wine as part of the fermentation process.
However it is also added as a preservative to prevent oxidation of the wine and at the grape-crushing stage as a cleansing agent to kill unwanted bacteria and wild yeasts.
This innovative range of wines produced and bottled without the addition of sulphur dioxide, has been developed as a natural extension of Stellar's commitment to organic winemaking.
Stellar Organics Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
This wine has an intense dark red color. The nose has hints of roasted red pepper and chocolate mint. The taste is full-bodied. The flavor is dark, inky, wet forest leaves, eucalypt and chocolate. The tannins are still very active in this young wine and this will allow for a more complex development over the next year.
Alcohol
14 vol%
Total Acid
5.44 g/l
Sugar
2.2 g/l
pH
3.77
Sugar
2.2 g/l
pH
3.77
Total SO2
2.1 mg/l
Free SO2
0 mg/l
Stellar Organics Merlot 2008
This wine has a lovely fresh red color. The first impression on the nose is sweet vanilla ice-cream and oak woodwork shavings. The wine has a soft taste and exhibits an excellent combination of fruit and wood. Tannins are already well integrated but are still able to allow more complex development over the next year.
Alcohol
14 vol%
Total Acid
4.9 g/l
Sugar
1.8 g/l
pH
3.61
Total SO2
0 mg/l
Free SO2
0 mg/l
Stellar Organics Shiraz 2007
This is a very dark red wine. The nose is a subtle mix of forest floor and church pews. The taste is full-bodied. The wine has a juicy fruit-led sweetness which is well integrated with French oak. Tannins are still robust but will allow the wine to develop safely and with complexity over the next year.
Enjoy with roast chicken and rosemary, tuna steaks or pepperoni pizza with extra parmesan.
Alcohol
13 vol%
Total Acid
5.4 g/l
Sugar
2.1g/l
pH
3.71
Total SO2
0 mg/l
Free SO2
0 mg/l
Stellar Organics Shiraz Rose 2008
This wine has the bright red color of a toffee apple. The nose reminds one of sweet fruit and bread-and-butter pudding. The sweet taste opens to show flavors of mixed fruit cocktail.
The wine was made by bleeding off juice from various Shiraz vineyards after skin contact ranging from 2 to 12 hours. The fermentation had fresh juice added to it with each intake of Shiraz and this resulted in a long slow ferment at low temperatures 12-15C This resulted in a wine with good fruit and a complex mouth feel.
Alcohol
13.5 vol%
Total Acid
5.3 g/l
Sugar
4.9g/l
pH
3.45
Total SO2
0 mg/l
Free SO2
0 mg/l
Stellar Organics Chenin Blanc/Sauvignon 2008
A light, straw-colored wine with a nose hinting of pear and pineapple. The taste shows a crisp acidity with the taste of fresh peach.
Now and then a wine is required that doesn’t need a ritual on opening, whose departure from a collection is not accompanied by nostalgic memories of its purchase. A wine that doesn’t need glasses you don’t have. Sometimes one wants a wine to be a song heard a thousand times, something to hum to, tap to, work with. A wine that’s finished before you get to know it, a wine you begin to miss only when it’s gone. A wine that realizes there are other things in life, a lot of other things.
The “Live-a-Little” range was created to be that wine. Made from our more generously yielding vineyards, the grapes were given the same care in the cold rooms and the crusher as our more serious offerings. Yeasts specially selected for this style were used. Ferment temperatures were kept in check and pump-overs done less vigorously. Earlier pressing, racking and filtering have retained the vibrant colour and fruit, and have resulted in an entry-level wine that will surprise and revive you.
Really Ravishing Red - Shiraz
This is our most widely planted cultivar and this year the grapes ripened at lower sugar levels than normal. This is good news in a traditionally warm area where high alcohols are the norm. A lot of this blend comes from our cooler vineyards. The wine has excellent color and a marked peppery complexity.
Good color meant that the wines could be pressed off even earlier into the ferment to give soft, dark colored full flavored wines.
Alcohol
14 vol%
Total Acid
5.8 g/l
Sugar
5.1 g/l
pH
3.62
Rather Revealing Rosé - Shiraz Rosé
This wine has the bright red color of a toffee apple. The nose reminds one of sweet fruit and bread-and-butter pudding. The sweet taste opens to show flavors of mixed fruit cocktail.
The wine was made by bleeding off juice from various Shiraz vineyards after skin contact ranging from 2 to 12 hours. The fermentation had fresh juice added to it with each intake of Shiraz and this resulted in a long slow ferment at low temperatures 12-15 degrees C. This resulted in a wine with good fruit and a complex mouth feel.
Alcohol
14 vol%
Total Acid
6.8 g/l
Sugar
3.4 g/l
pH
3.38
Wildly Wicked White - Chenin/Sauvignon Blanc
Pale gold in color. The nose of the wine has delicate hints of spicy pears, tangerine and banana. On tasting, the Sauvignon Blanc component (30%) shows itself in the grassy tartness and lingering finish. The wine is well balanced with neither cultivar dominating.
This luscious dessert wine is made like a 'vin de paille' or straw wine. Organic Muscat d'Alexandrie (Hanepoot) grapes are laid to rest on a bed of organic Rooibos tea and straw for several weeks or months. The fragrance of the tea infuses the dried grapes which are then pressed yielding a sweet syrup that is fermented into wine.Intensely sweet nose combining heady scents of honey oranges apricots marmalade and raisins. Well-balanced acidity counters the sweetness and keeps the wine fresh. Moreish butterscotch finish. A real treat!
