The Caracal

Ideal alongside hearty dishes such as beef brisket, lamb, venison, game stews, oxtail, aged cheeses (Swiss, Cheddar), and rich vegetable casseroles like ratatouille or green bean gratin .

This Bordeaux-style blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec) is estate-grown in Stellenbosch on Neethlingshof’s biodiverse vineyards. The name reflects the reintroduction of caracal (“rooikat”) into the estate ecosystem.

Aged 12 months in a combination of new and second/third-fill French oak barriques, imparting oak spice, tobacco, and cedar nuances.

Grapes were hand-harvested, destemmed, crushed, and fermented in stainless-steel tanks at 25–27 °C over 5–8 days. Following malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged separately in French oak barrels—new and second/third-fill—for around 12 months.

Neethlingshof Estate has a long and rich tradition of wine making in Stellenbosch, the second oldest and most premier wine producing area of South Africa. The Estate occupies an incredibly privileged site with ideal natural conditions, soils, slopes, altitudes and climate to produce a variety of great wines. All the grapes for the Neethlingshof wines are grown on the estate and all the wine is made, matured and bottled in the cellars of the estate.