in the vineyard : Clone: CS46C, CS163C, CS27A
Rootstock: Richter 110, 99
Fruit source: Oude Nektar farm in Jonkershoek Valley (Block 5)
Trellis: 5-wire vsp
Irrigation: supplemental drip irrigation
Vineyard elevation: 270m - 290m
Slope: South Westerly
in the cellar : This wine is based on our best block of Cabernet - a higher elevation block with a finely textured decomposed granite soil with a clay sub-soil and a gentle Southwest-facing slope. The wines made from this vineyard (including our single-vineyard Syrah) always seem to have good ripeness coupled with good natural acidity and a unique floral note that sets it apart from our other blocks of Cabernet. There are five different clones within the block, but I usually focus on just three that have quite different characters: clone 46 which is well structured, but with less forward fruit; clone 27 which varies from vintage, but tends to have a firm tannin; and clone 163 which is quite fruit forward.
The grapes were picked into small lug boxes and cooled overnight in a refrigerated container to about 14° C, then de-stemmed and carefully hand-sorted and crushed into small open fermentation vats and cold-soaked for 2 - 3 days until natural fermentation started. T
he following day they were inoculated with a mix of yeasts, half with a South African strain and the other half with an imported Bordeaux yeast. About 20% of the wine was fermented with natural yeasts. Regular, vigorous punch-downs were given every 2 - 4 hours for the first half of fermentation, then every 6 - 8 hours thereafter. The wine was basket pressed and racked directly to barrel for malo-lactic fermentation and subsequent barrel maturation. A mix of coopers was used, all French oak, all 300 litre, about 70% new and the balance 2nd fill. The wine was bottled without fining or filtration after 22 months barrel maturation.