Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon

Terrific with steaks or chops—like lamb chops with frizzled herbs.

Showcasing the excellent 2023 vintage and planted at 300 meters on the iron and granite-rich slopes of the Helderberg Mountain in Stellenbosch, the grapes from this cool site naturally achieve the sophistication that is so alluring in our style of Cabernet Sauvignon. Maintaining elegance as well as lush concentration is paramount to our approach in the wine, to ensure that this vineyard’s terroir translates through to the final wine with supreme balance. The grapes from this vineyard were harvested in 3 picks between the 10th and 17th of March 2023 with a yield of four to six tons per hectare, which translated to 38 hectolitres per hectare.

Our 2023 Leeu Passant Cabernet Sauvignon was first matured in 500L French oak barrels, of which a third were new, then racked and blended into larger format oak for another sixteen months prior to bottling.

Upon arrival at our Leeu Passant winery in Franschhoek, the grapes were destemmed to tanks with only minimal sulphur added. After the start of indigenous yeast fermentation, the wine saw daily pumped-overs which lasted approximately 14 days, followed by extended maceration. The wine was then drained and pressed to barrels where it stayed until the latter part of the winter.

The Leeu Passant winery, based in Franschhoek, was established in 2013 with the purpose of harnessing the most exciting vineyards of the Cape in order to create multi-regional wines from vineyards aimed at expressing the Cape as a whole (not only from Franschhoek). The Name “Leeu Passant” is derived from Heraldry, referring to a ‘passing Lion’ and this is the symbol on the top of the capsule. Chris and Andrea Mullineux search far and wide for the best parcels of grapes for these wines, and make them at the Leeu Passant base, on Leeu Estates.