in the vineyard : The Sangiovese grapes were sourced from a single vineyard in the Stellenbosch region. The north to northwest-facing vineyard grows at an altitude of 300 m, was planted in 1998 and is 0.91 ha in size. The vines, now 7 years old, are grafted onto nematode-resistant Richter 99 rootstock and grow in soils of decomposed granite. Trellised on a seven-wire system, the vines received no irrigation, and yielded 6 tons per hectare.
The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were sourced from a vineyard block of 4ha, facing north west at an altidute of 280m. The vines now 13 years old are grafted on nematode resistant Richter 99 rootstock, planted in decomposed granite and trellised on a 5 wire hedge system.
in the cellar : The two varieties were fermented separately in a combination of rotation tanks and open fermenters at 26° to 28° C until dry. Pure yeast cultures were used and fermentation took 8 days to complete.
After pressing, the wine was transferred to stainless steel tanks for malolactic fermentation, whereafter it was racked twice before being transferred to 300 litre barrels for a 14 month maturation period. A combination of French (90%) and American wood (10%) was used in the maturation process as well as a combination of new barrels (20%), second (50%) and third (30%) fill barrels were used.