Trilogy

Rare beef fillet done in a Chinese barbecue sauce would make this wine come alive, or even a Carpaccio with an anchovy cream and a hint of truffle oil.

The 2014 harvest season started two weeks later than normal, but due to a warm February the Cabernet Franc and Merlot were harvested only one week later than normal. Near the end of March the weather cooled down considerably leading to longer hanging time on the Cabernet Sauvignon. Heavy rain during mid March led to some older Cabernet Sauvignon only being harvested mid April – these vineyards did not make the selection for Trilogy.

The individual components spent 24 months in 225L French oak barrel of which 62% were new barrels. The Trilogy was meticulously blended by our winemaking team headed up by Chief winemaker Nic van Aarde. The wine spends 26 months in bottle before release to allow the components to harmonize and reach their full potential.

Trilogy comes from the oldest, most established vineyards on Warwick Estate. The Merlot was harvested on 26 February 2014. The grapes were cold soaked for five days followed by a cool fermentation to preserve the upfront fruit characters. Cabernet Franc was harvested the very next day. The cap was punched down for the onset of fermentation after which four pump overs where done tapering down to one at the end of fermentation followed by a week of post maceration to integrate the tannins before a light pressing.

Warwick Estate lies in a valley enclosed by the Simonsberg Kanonkop and Klapmutskop. Originally part of a vast piece of land known as Good Success this eighteenth century farm belonged to Colonel Alexander Gordon who renamed his portion in honour of the Warwickshire regiment which he commanded during the Boer War. Years later in 1964 Stan Ratcliffe bought Warwick where with considerable foresight he began planting the precious Cabernet Sauvignon vines which are still a major part of the production today. These vines produced high quality grapes and became highly sought after by wholesalers and other wineries. However it took the arrival of Norma Ratcliffe Stan's beautiful and energetic wife in 1971 for the family to begin making a few experimental wines from Cabernet Sauvignon. The early results were very encouraging and served to extol the virtues of what is surely some of the best terroir in South Africa. Michael Ratcliffe Norma's son has now taken over as proprietor in Stan's retirement and has wasted no time in stamping his personality on the Estate. A host of new innovative techniques learnt during his postgraduate wine studies in Australia are being implemented aimed at maximizing the potential of the Warwick terroir. Under Michael's leadership the Warwick team is striving to take the next step in quality.