Chronicle Cape Blend

The Chronicle Cape Blend pairs excellently with dishes off the braai, grilled meats and vegetables, as well as tomato-based curries and pastas.

17 different blocks over the estates 55 hactares are used in this blend. Hand tended and harvested.

2 years maturation in 20% new 225 liter French oak barriques. Unfined.

Varies depending on the varietal. Bordeaux varietals are sorted twice (conveyor belt as bunches and vibrating sorting table as grapes). Cinsault and Pinotage are sorted as bunches only over the conveyor belt. The Syrah, Cinsault and Pinotage that are vinified using carbonic maceration are not sorted at all. Varies depending on the component. Each block is vinified separately and matured for one year. The blend is then made up and maturation continuing for another year.

“We would like people who drink our wines to experience the estate our soils our slopes our vines and our terroir. Wine should be experienced and not merely drunk and we endeavour to make every bottle of our wine a memorable experience. We believe wine is made in the vineyards and our goal is to allow the vineyards to express themselves by interfering as little as possible. As a result we have adopted a minimalist approach in both the vineyards and the cellar. The idea being to minimalise the human influence on the final product. In the vineyards we do everything by hand from pruning to harvesting. We are also proud members of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative and of the Integrated Production of Wine Scheme. We have set aside 30% of the estate and dedicated it to the Western Capes indigenous flora and fauna. The goal in the cellar is to facilitate the production of wine from grapes and not merely manufacture wine. This is again done by following the minimalist approach of nothing added apart from a small amount of SO2 prior to bottling. All grapes are hand sorted in the cellar to remove m.o.g. (material other than grapes) and unripe grapes before they go to tank. Wild or naturally occurring yeasts are allowed to ferment the grapes before the wine is drained off the skins and allowed to mature in French oak barrels before being racked and bottled.