Vinification details

Bunches were de-stemmed and slightly crushed, with berries hand sorted at the crusher. The mash was soaked overnight in 500kg batches before yeast activity began where colour and some tannin extraction occurred. A commercial yeast strain best suited to these two varieties was inoculated and fermentation took place in open top vats. Juice and skin was punched down with a paddle, and turned daily to control even heat distribution between the skin cap on top and must juice below for 20 days. Post fermentation maceration lasted three weeks for tannin polymerisation.

Once fermentation was completed, the vats were tasted and selected on tannin and flavour attributes and manually pressed in an 800kg capacity stainless steel basket press. The vat combinations selected were kept as separate fractions to create as many blending profiles as possible for the final assemblage.

The wine was matured in 2nd- and 3rd-fill 225 and 300 litre French coopered casks for 17 months. Selected casks of both varieties were blended with 57% Cabernet Franc and 43% Merlot. The wine was lightly filtered to bottle.

Awards

Tim Atkin MW: 94 pts
Vinous: 90 pts

Green credentials

Accredited Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) estate. Wines are registered with the South African Vegan Society.

Tasting video

With owner and winemaker Cathy Marshall.

Vinification details

Bunches were de-stemmed and slightly crushed, with berries hand sorted at the crusher. The mash was soaked overnight in 500kg batches before yeast activity began where colour and some tannin extraction occurred. A commercial yeast strain best suited to these two varieties was inoculated and fermentation took place in open top vats. Juice and skin was punched down with a paddle, and turned daily to control even heat distribution between the skin cap on top and must juice below. This process was controlled by hand with no pump or mechanical intervention for optimum focus on each 500kg batch.

Once fermentation was completed, the vats were tasted and selected on tannin and flavour attributes and manually pressed in an 800kg capacity stainless steel basket press. The vat combinations selected were kept as separate fractions to create as many blending profiles as possible for the final assemblage.

The wine was matured in 225 and 300 litre French coopered casks for 16 months and selected casks of both varieties were blended with 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc. The wine was lightly filtered to bottle.

Awards

Tim Atkin MW: 94 pts

Green credentials

Accredited Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) estate. Wines are registered with the South African Vegan Society.

Vinification details

Bunches are de-stemmed and slightly crushed. Berries are hand sorted at the crusher. The mash is soaked overnight in 500kg batches before yeast activity begins where colour and some tannin extraction occurs. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in open top vats. Juice and skin is punched down with a paddle, and turned daily to control even heat distribution between the skin cap on top and must juice below.

Once fermentation has completed, the vats are tasted and selected on tannin and flavour attributes and manually pressed in an 800kg capacity stainless steel basket press. The vat combinations selected are kept as separate fractions to create as many blending profiles as possible for the final assemblage.

The secondary malolactic fermentation is completed in 225L oak casks where, once all the malic acid has converted to lactic acid, the wine is racked off the lees and further matured for 16 months in a combination of new, second and third filled French coopered casks.

Once maturation is completed, each barrel is assessed and the resultant blend of the barrels is assembled in a stainless steel tank and then lightly filtered to bottle.

Green credentials

Accredited Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) estate.