Blend

Butterfly leg of Karoo lamb on the braai with wild rosemary.

With less rain and more difficult conditions, total wine grape production was lower than in 2015. Despite the drier weather, the vineyards remained healthy, producing smaller berries with high flavour concentration and good colour. Depth and subtle structure indicate a very promising vintage for the 2016 wines. The vineyards for the Anthonij Rupert range of wines are all carefully selected from very specific sites and soil types. The canopies of each block and the final yield of each site are precisely managed to express the character of each varietal and location.

The wines were aged in 60% new French oak for 24 months before being bottled unfiltered and bottle-aged for additional seven years before release. The grapes are primarily from our Franschhoek vineyards, with a small portion coming from our Groenekloof vineyards.

Grapes are hand-picked, placed in small lug boxes, and transported to the cellar in a refrigerated truck. The whole berries are double-sorted in the cellar using optical sorting before being gravity-fed into wood fermenters. Each parcel is cold-soaked for a few days before gradually increasing in temperature, where fermentation occurs naturally. After fermentation, the skins were macerated for 5 days.

Anthonij Rupert Wyne is a Franschhoek-based producer with a portfolio that spans some of South Africa's most recognised wine brands, including L'Ormarins and Cape of Good Hope. The range showcases a variety of regions, styles and vineyard sites, from everyday favourites to collector-worthy releases.