On the nose, black current, mulberries, ripe plums, thyme and cedar. On the palate, concentrated and intense. Sweet fruit, black cherries, plums and fruit cake with savoury notes, olives and black pepper on the entry, followed by broad, polished tannins with a medium plus acidity that leads into a finish that lasts for ages.

• South Africa    Stellenbosch    Simonsberg-Stellenbosch

• 70%

  Merlot

    15%

  Cabernet Franc

    15%

  Cabernet Sauvignon

   

• Alcohol

    14.6%

• Production

    6000 bottles

• Residual sugar

    2.1

From the highest rows of the estates 2 highest vineyards, Merlot Block 15 and Cabernet Sauvignon Block 14. The exposure of these rows to all the elements combined with the steep gradient of the slope means the vines have a very tough life and give low yields. The bunches from these portions of these vineyards are typically light with small concentrated berries. The soil is Malmesbury shale which is the oldest soil in South Africa and one of the oldest in the world. It is a low vigour soil due to leaching over millennia with a good component of clay in the subsoil which keeps the vines going in the dry summer months. The grapes are hand harvested and sorted twice in the cellar. Once as bunches on a conveyor belt and then as grapes on a vibrating sorting table. The fermentation is then allowed to occur spontaneously in 500 liter open top French oak barrels. Regular punch downs ensure optimal extraction. Malolactic fermentation takes place in 225 liter French oak barrels before maturation for 24 months in the same barrels. 80% new oak barrels are used with the remaining 20% in second fill barrels.