Karin

Enjoy in its youthful state with some poolside peaches and cream.

Harvest 2024 was an interesting, yet standout vintage. We had an excellent preceding winter with enough cold spells to ensure great dormancy, whilst above average rainfall replenished our groundwater reserves. Budbreak was slightly later than usual, as soils remained cold and wet well into Spring. The extended rest period allowed vines to properly recover and recharge, which laid the foundation for a strong growing season ahead. From September through October persistent SE-winds started drying out the soils and unbelievably, by the end of January, some blocks higher up actually started hinting at water stress. A dry December and January with extremely high temperatures also sped up the ripening process and quickly brought about bunch maturation after the green harvest period. The onset of harvest was fast and furious. Higher sugar levels were observed early on at lower phenological ripeness levels, with low pH’s and high natural acidities. The latter half of the season was moderate to warm and dry and temperatures only dropped significantly towards the end of March. A vintage that delivered small berries of excellent flavour and colour due to the increased skin to juice ratios. Anticipate whites with insane fruit concentration, great structure and fresh acidities, whilst reds will show rich concentration with grippy tannins and chiseled length.

The 2024 KARIN exudes quiet confidence. Its pale coral appearance suggests a wine that is timid, but nothing could be further from the truth. In pursuit of purity and freshness, we picked the fruit at 21.3 degrees Balling and a healthy acid of nearly 8g/L. The small, loosely set bunches with beautifully ripe stems were cooled overnight and whole-bunch pressed in a gentle 3-hour Champenoise cycle to minimise extraction from the skins. The must settled in contact with activated carbon overnight and was racked and inoculated with a yeast strain that expresses volatile thiol-type varietal aromas the morning thereafter. Fermentation was kept low and slow, and the final wine then spent 6 months on the gross lees before a light fining and filtration en route to bottle.

A mere 20 minutes from Cape Town City’s center lies Beau Constantia, a well-curated escarp of rolling vineyards, floating concrete, and rocky mountainside. In a shy kloof, steep North East facing slopes summit the Vlakkenberg, from where both the Indian and the Atlantic oceans become visible. From the outset, the unique site called for a masterful eye and design approach that respects its terroir – a wine term that refers to a place’s character.