Mont Rochelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

ageing : With bottle ageing in our Bottle Maturation Cellar, the wine is now ready for drinking but will most definitely reward careful cellaring for at least 10 years from Vintage.

Cabernet Sauvignon was among the first varietals planted on Mont Rochelle, making the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard blocks some of the oldest on the farm. These older vines yield low volumes of highly concentrated fruit for the production of our elegant and complex Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The wine-style is geared towards finesse and elegance, although this wine can be powerful at times with good fruit intensity.

With the cooler climatic conditions experienced in the 2008 vintage, elegant and lower alcohol wines were produced. Excellent phenolic ripeness was obtained thanks to the longer, slower ripening conditions with lovely flavour development in most cultivars. Wines produced from the 2008 vintage show good potential for ageing and cellaring.

Region Franschhoek
Vine age: 12 years
Vines per Ha: 4,250
Altitude: 200-320 m

Harvesting of the grapes occurred at optimal ripeness ensuring that the maximum fruit potential for the wine was achieved.

Harvested 25 March 2008
Harvest Method Hand

Fermentation at 26 degrees Celsius with gradual tannin extraction resulted in a full-bodied tannin profile. Maturation in 100% French oak barrels for 24 months, 30% of which was new, added fine structure and smoothness to the wines profile.

Malolactic 100%
Fermentation Stainless Steel
Bottled 11 February 2011
Barrels 24 months in 225 litre French oak 30% New Oak
Production: 6,400 bottles