Planted in 1979, these old Cabernet vines produce consistently fine wine. Only 2.8ha was established in a rock-infested outcrop, which bears us 17-20 barrels of luscious premium Cabernet, aged for 2 years in new French barriques and a further 4 years in bottles in our cellar, prior to release. It's the best we can do, and warrants our Méthode Ancienne label.
variety : Cabernet Sauvignon [ 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from single vineyard ]
winemaker : Abrie Bruwer
wine of origin : Robertson
analysis : alc : 13.18 % vol rs : 2.7 g/l pH : 3.43 ta : 6.9 g/l fso2 : 40 mg/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Full wooded
pack : Bottle size : 750ml closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Slope: Very gentle, southerly
Soil: Very rocky, 70% quartz, 30% soluble
Climate: Moderate summer with low night temperatures, cold winter
Wind: South Easterly (summer)
in the cellar : No crushing of berries, no yeast but that from their skins, no fining- additives and no filters. Wine made by itself, kept for two years in the best new French-oak barrels, fit for this wonder.
Finally we could bottle, but the agony was not yet over. After four more years wait for maturation in bottles, we reluctantly released the first Méthode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 vintage. So long had we lived with this wine, that to trade it for money was painful.
It was a piece of our history, our passion, labour and luck we were selling.
ested at full seed ripeness
Cold macerated uncrushed in open fermenters for 10 days
Punched through 3 times daily
Only free run juice used
100% spontaneous Malolactic fermentation in barrel
24 Months barrel maturation in 1st fill Seguin Moreau 300l
4 years bottle maturation at 14°C