Signature C

Roast lamb, game or veal.

After 12 months of maturation, the component cultivars were blended and racked back into barrels for a further six months of integration. The specially selected barrels were lightly filtered before bottling.

The hand-selected cultivars for this blend were destemmed carefully without excessive crushing, and all unwanted stalks were removed on the sorting table. The entire berry component was added into the open stainless-steel fermenters at 30%. Pump overs were carried out three to four times daily to extract colour, tannin, and flavour. Each tank also received a single rack and return for a gentler extraction. Fermentation for each cultivar occurred at 24-28 degrees Celsius and lasted for 5-7 days. Following this, the wine was gently pressed, and the free run was combined with enough press fraction to improve structure. The wine was gravity-fed into 225-litre French oak barrels 84% new, 5% second fill, and 11% third fill for secondary malolactic 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.