Description
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
In the Vineyard: The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were picked from Block 5, which has soils with excellent structure and water retaining ability. Vigorous hardy vines deal well with the strong South Easternly winds and produce beautiful quality grapes with compact bunches and small berries with thick skins.
The vineyard block rests 280m above sea level, 7 km from the ocean. The soil type is predominantly Tukulu.
In the Cellar: The grapes were stored overnight in the cold room, then hand sorted and destemmed. The whole berries were cold soaked for 5 days before fermentation began, lasting for 15 days between 18 – 25˚C in stainless steel tanks. Carefully planned pump over and rack-and-return approaches ensured good aromatic, flavour, colour and tannin extraction. Malolactic fermentation then took place during a two-week post-fermentation skin maceration.
After being pressed off the skins, the wine was left to mature in a combination of 225L and 300L French oak barrels for 17 months. 30% New French oak was used along with 70% second and third fill French oak barrels.
Analysis: Alc: 14% | pH: 3.53 | TA: 5.56 g/l | RS: 3.34 g/l
Viticulture:
| Climate | Coastal |
| Aspect | South facing slopes |
| Soil type | Oakleaf and Hutton derived from Granite |
| Clones | CS163, CS46C, CS15, 169 |
| Rootstock | 101/14, Richter 99 |
| Planting date | 1998 |
| HA planted | 5.84ha |
| Average tonnage | 6.4 tons/ha |
| Irrigation | Drip irrigation |
| Trellis system | Extended Perold, 7 Strand |
