Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon

Enjoy with grilled veal chops, meaty stews or a fantastic piece of steak.

Our Damascene Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards (a combination of CS337 and CS46 clones) were planted as far back as 2001. Intense care is taken to keep the vineyards virus-free. These mature vineyards are scattered across Bottelary and Polkadraai Hills wards 14-20 km from the Atlantic Ocean as well as the northern-eastern slopes of the Helderberg. All these sites are granitic outcrops generating purity and brightness in the wine. The vineyard in the Polkadraai Hills has an expansive layer of laterite underneath the decomposed granitic topsoil contributing to a more structured component. Being on a south-eastern slope, this site always has a longer ripening period to ensure optimal phenolic ripeness and the highest concentration of tannins to amplify the structure of the wine. The site on the Bottelary slopes has more structured gravelly soils with higher clay content in the subsoil to add to the broadness of the final wine. This site is facing Table Mountain in the west. The vineyard on the granitic slopes of Helderberg faces north-east and lifts the fruit intensity and length. Extremely low yields and smaller berries with very thick skins contribute to high concentration and great structure at a moderate alcohol

The wine spends 22 months in oak to gradually enhance the clarity and stability of the wine and avoid the need for fining. The wine is racked twice, once at 12 months and again two weeks before bottling.

A series of batches were hand-harvested from 7-27 March 2018 at 25-25.2 ̊B. Smaller open-top stainless-steel tanks are used for primary fermentation. Pump- overs take place 2-3 times per day with the temperature peaking at 28 ̊C. Pigeage is also done on some batches as needed. A combination of spontaneous and inoculated fermentations adds to the complexity. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation and maturation takes place in a new French oak barriques and 1000L foudre.

DAMASCENE is a partnership between Jean Smit and David Curl, former owner of Château Gaby in Canon-Fronsac, Bordeaux. What began as a conversation around making wine from the Pinot Noir planted on Curl’s Elgin estate swiftly revealed the pair’s shared passion for celebrating unsung pockets of South African terroir. Following the maxim of ‘Less cult, more cultivation’, the founding philosophy of DAMASCENE is simple, yet unyielding: that the journey to great wine can only begin in the vineyard. “DAMASCENE is about seeking out memorable vineyards and sites that truly showcase the incredible diversity of terroir we have here in the Western Cape,” says Smit. “I spend countless days on the road, covering thousands of kilometres, visiting vineyards and farmers in search of special parcels of land.”