Technical Specifications
Alcohol 14.5%
Residual Sugar 2.5 g/L
Total Acidity 5.3 g/L
Calories (estimated) 120 kcal / glass
150ml glass120 kcal
750ml bottle600 kcal
Grape Varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon74%
Petit Verdot20%
Merlot6%
Region Jonkershoek Valley
Soil Stoney decomposed granite, Clay subsoil
Elevation 540.0 meters
Orientation South Westerly
Grapes Picked mid-March
Grape Clone 169, 23
Fermentation Vessels Open Top Fermenter
Maceration 10 days
Oak Aging 20 months
Oak Details 70% First Fill New Oak
First Fill New Oak70%
Oak Types French
Unfined Yes
Unfiltered Yes
Production Details We have been planning this wine for more than 15 years. We made a small "test run" in 2008, but the vineyard burned the following year and we had to re-plant. It is a Bordeaux-style blend based around this unique Cabernet vineyard and blended with the best parcels of our other Bordeaux varieties. This wine is based around the highest elevation vineyard on the farm – at 600 meters arguably one of Stellenbosch's highest Cabernet vineyards. Originally planted in 2003, it burned down in 2009 and was re-planted. It is an ideal combination of soil and site. It has a very stoney decomposed granite soil with a clay subsoil and it has an almost perfect aspect towards the afternoon sun. This aspect and elevation means that the vineyard receives almost 45 minutes more direct sunlight than Stellenbosch average. This is the first vintage of this wine after re-planting. Our idea has always been to make what is basically a single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from this unique vineyard – although it is not a true single-vineyard in that we have blended in barrel selections of the best of our other vineyards. The Cabernet has a very intense cassis aroma with unique citrus-rind notes. It has a firmer tannins structure than many of our wines, but still with the elegance for which Jonkershoek Valley wines are known. All of the grapes were hand-picked in mid-March. This was our last vineyard to pick. The grapes were cooled overnight and then de-stemmed and carefully sorted. Fermentation was in small-lot open tanks. The wine was cold-soaked for two days before fermentation began. We did punchdowns 4-6 times a day during the vigorous part of fermentation and then 2 times towards the end. After about 10 days on the skins, the wine was pressed and racked to barrel for malo-lactic fermentation. The wine spent 20 months in barrel, all small French oak, about 70% new. Bottled with no fining and no filtration.