Cabernet Sauvignon

Delicious with most red meat dishes. Butterfly leg of lamb on the braai with wild rosemary a personal favourite.

Another excellent vintage to follow 2017 after 2 years of drought. Winter started a bit late, but was cold enough to get dormancy off to a good start. Bud break started late as winter dragged on into September. The early growing season was windy with cold and wet periods leading to uneven flowering and berry set resulting in lower yields. The rest of the growing season was dry and hot followed by much cooler temperatures in February with especially cool nights. Disease pressure was very low and the late start to harvest we had healthy grapes with small bunches and small berries. Harvest a little later than usual with very little rain problems. Similar, elegant vintage to 2017 with a lower acidity and little more fruit.

Time in barrels 22 months with several rackings to gradually clarify the wine and assist maturation. Minimal use of sulphur and nothing else added. Bottled unfiltered by hand on the property.

100% destemming and crushing by hand directly into 2 ton open top fermentation tanks. Spontaneous natural yeast fermentation @ max. 30ºC. including pre fermentation and post fermentation soaks with regular punch downs for up to 15 days, depending on each parcel. Wine drained directly to barrels, together with single pressing from traditional basket press for malolactic fermentation. 35% new French oak was used from high quality coopers.

A small family winery at the end of the Upper Blaauwklippen Road in the mountains above Stellenbosch South Africa. Established in 1992 by architect David Trafford & artist wife Rita with the focus on high end red wines of great intensity & longevity using minimal intervention production methods.