Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot

The 2 varieties were carefully blended to highlight the ripe dark plum aromas, typical of Cabernet, on the nose and palate. Merlot contributes savoury characters and velvety tannins. This is an elegant wine with great depth of flavour, elegant wood integration and supple structure. This wine can be enjoyed now, however, it will also reward careful cellaring for at least three to five years.

The grapes for this wine were sourced from selected parcels of fruit from across the Coastal Region. Due to a cool, wet spring in 2021, budding was seven to 14 days later than usual, but consistently good and even. Careful attention to detail stays paramount, and viticulture practices to ensure optimum ripening conditions are always followed, such as performing green harvests on bunches after veraison, and harvesting only once physiological ripeness is reached In this particular vintage, winemakers and viticulturalists alike had to wait patiently for grapes to achieve optimal ripeness. The slower ripening made for intense flavour in the grapes harvested in 2022, promising great wine.

After an early morning harvest, the grapes were destemmed only, and cold-soaked for 12 hours. Fermentation was carried out ‘whole berry’ to ensure a soft, elegant, fruit-forward wine style. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were fermented in open-top fermenters and regularly punched-down for optimum colour and tannin extraction. The Merlot was fermented in stainless steel tanks and pumped over, every four hours, for optimum skin and flavour extraction. After fermentation, only the free-run juice was put in barrel for malolactic fermentation and further maturation. The different components of the wine were matured individually for 14 months in 30% second and 70% third fill French oak barrels before final blending and bottling.