The. Cabernet Franc

The grapes were harvested on the 27th February 2015 at 24° Balling, destalked and allowed to cold macerate in a small open fermenter for three days until the natural fermentation kicked in. Morning and evening punch downs were done to extract colour and tannin, making sure we balanced the structure to the fruit core. The total time on skin was 18 days after which the wine was pressed and put into barrels where it finished malolactic fermentation.

These grapes were sourced from a 14 year old vineyard block in the Bot River ward of Walker Bay. This was a drier, hotter vintage and also the first year of the drought in the Western Cape. As a result, the picking date was much earlier than normal.

It spent 18 months in French Oak. Only 3 barrels were used; one new, one second fill and one third fill. Just prior to bottling, all three barrels were blended together and 2% shiraz was added to enhance the fruit and spice component of the wine.