Cabernet Franc

The complexity of the Cabernet Franc is ideally paired with game birds such as duck or quail and would do equally well served with veal.

Maturation in 33% new, 44% second fill and 23% third fill French oak barrels lasted for 15 months and the wine was then lightly filtered prior to bottling.

The selected bunches were destemmed onto the sorting table with moderate crushing retaining a whole berry component of 30% in the fermenter. Great care was taken to remove all stalks. The mash was then cold soaked overnight at 12 degrees Celsius for maximum colour extraction. Fermentation, using a specific commercial yeast strain, was done in open stainless-steel fermenters at 24-28 degrees Celsius and the ferment lasted 6 days. Gentle pumpovers were applied three to four times daily to extract flavour and tannins for structure. Delestage (rack and return) further aided soft tannin extraction. The mash was pressed immediately after primary fermentation was completed. The wine was then gravity fed to 225l barrels for secondary or Malo-lactic fermentation.

Ridgeback Wines is situated in the northern part of the picturesque town of Paarl in the Western Cape, on the northern slopes of the magnificent Paarl mountain. The farm extends over an area of 65 hectares. Retaining the rich heritage of the countryside’s proteas and fynbos, which flourish in the region, is a priority that we are deeply and continuously committed to. Our vineyards are amongst the finest in the Cape, and our winery, which overlooks a small dam, is home to an abundance of water fowl which add to the beauty and peaceful ambience of this tranquil environment. A total of 35 hectares are currently under vine with the potential to increase the capacity further. In order to enable our winemaker to produce our exciting array of blends and single varietal wines, the farm has planted a wide variety of different cultivars.