Eisen & Viljoen

Pair with crispy duck and plum sauce.

Following a cold and wet winter, August had higher than normal temperatures which caused budding to be about seven days earlier. Dry and windy conditions during flowering and berry set, put vines under early stress and resulted in smaller berries which were more uneven in size. Thus we had more berry sorting to do. Maximum temperatures during February were significantly lower compared to our long term average, which had a very large positive impact on grape quality during the last stages of ripening. Despite the dry conditions, we had no heatwaves until after harvest (the earliest onset of harvest in more than ten years). On Normandie Est. 1693, the 2015 extreme climatic conditions illustrated again how unique the terroir is within the “protected” property, as we only began harvest two days prior to our earliest vintage. Consequently our grapes had time to ripen slowly and perfectly until harvest at optimal ripeness. Our yield was 27.7 hectolitres per hectare.

Barrel maturation: 22 months. Further ageing in bottle for 28 months prior to release.

Following primary fermentation, the wine remains in the tank on the skins for a further period of extended maceration – a distinctive step in our approach to winemaking. Pressing is another decisive moment for our wine. We use a 1.5 ton, hydraulic basket press in order to enhance our hands on process of pressing. Up to this moment, all press wine is blended to the free run.

Normandie Est. 1693 is a historic Franschhoek wine estate on the slopes of the Groot Drakenstein Mountains, with vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Explore Normandie wines shaped by mountain soils, a distinctive Franschhoek microclimate and a hands-on approach from vineyard to cellar.