The Mentors Cabernet Franc

Grapes were harvested at optimal ripeness and hand-sorted in the cellar to ensure only the best fruit was used for fermentation. After two days of cold maceration the juice was inoculated with a selected yeast strain. Alcoholic fermentation lasted approximately six days and during this time, the wine was pumped over every four hours. It was pressed, then settled and transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation. The wine was then racked and cleaned, and returned to barrel for maturation. After 12 months the best wines were selected to mature for a further six months. In total over the 18-month maturation period, the wine was racked twice. This wine is truly about selecting the best-of-the-best.

Winter 2020 delivered good rainfall and cold that saw us returning to long term averages and the end of the drought that had tested all in the Western Cape for the last 5 years. Spring 2020 was defined by later bud break and particularly cool and wet conditions. Variable bud break was observed on a number of varieties. Flowering 2020 saw a continuation of this trend of cooler weather, intermittent rainfall and overcast conditions with lots of wind. The increased rainfall also brought significant disease pressure to most areas, in particular Downey Mildew. Summer has been a far cooler affair that we have been used to with particularly cool nights. This is per se a very good indicator of a quality vintage. We received only one or two warm days that were immediately followed by a cool spell all the way into late January. Harvest began on 21st January, 14 days later than last year and finished on the 7th of April.

The wine spent 18 months in 70% new French oak barrels.