Cabernet Sauvignon is our viticulturist’s best friend: a balanced, even-growing vine with compact berries and high resistance to stress. This hardiness gives us space to induce stress at specific points of the growing cycle using leaf- and stem- water potential irrigation, an advanced method pioneered in South Africa by Noble Hill.
2008 was one of the coolest, most moderate vintages we have experienced in the past decade. Relatively late véraison and extended hanging times resulted in good phenolic ripeness and elegant flavours.
Our Cabernet grapes rarely lack color or structure, making a light touch the cornerstone of our cellar practices. We aim not to over-extract the phenolic characters contained within the skins and manually remove the harsher tannins contained within the grapes’ seeds during the first half of fermentation. This wine is matured in 225l French oak barrels for 18 months.
South Africa may be defined as a New World wine producer but this can be a bit of a misnomer: our vineyards are planted in some of the world’s oldest soils. The decomposed granite soils that define our vineyards give this wine an earthy, cool and distinctively Old World character. We taste black fruit, ash, dark chocolate, and stone fruits. This wine should age elegantly and show increased refinement through at least 2016.
