Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon

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

From the exceptional 2024 vintage, its single estate vineyard parcels are at 300 metres on the transition to granite-rich-slopes of the Helderberg Mountain in Stellenbosch. This naturally cool site imparts the refinement and poise that define our expression of Cabernet Sauvignon. Pursuant to our focus of preserving both elegance and generous concentration, this wine allows the organically farmed vineyard’s distinctive terroir to shine through with seamless balance. The grapes from this estate were harvested in 3 picks between the 10th and 17th of March 2024 with a yield of six tons per hectare, which translated to 36 hectolitres per hectare.

The 2024 Leeu Passant Cabernet Sauvignon was initially aged in 500L French oak barrels, with one-third new oak. It was subsequently racked and blended into larger format oak, where it matured for a further sixteen months before bottling.

At the Leeu Passant winery, the grapes were destemmed into tanks with only a minimal addition of sulphur. Fermentation commenced naturally with indigenous yeast, followed by daily cap management over a period of roughly 14 days, and an extended maceration thereafter. The wine was then drained and pressed into barrels, where it remained until the latter part of winter, when it received its first racking and blending.

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.