Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

• 75cl bottle

Even though the early season was warm the long hang time and cooler weather has helped to maintain the typical Cabernet identity on the bouquet. Just a hint of fynbos intermingling with deliciously dark flavours or currant and cherry on the bouquet. These follow on the palate with notes of cedar and spice to support the mid palate fruit. The supple tannin structure provides enough structure to remain serious but light enough to ensure it doesn't detract from the very long finish of the wine.

Vineyards

The fruit for this wine was sourced from just 2 specific vineyard blocks on our farm. Even though the winter season was not as wet as previous years, no supplementary irrigation was needed. A good balance of fruit concentration and elegance was achieved with very little intervention. A warm start to the season was followed by cooler conditions towards the latter part of harvest aided later-ripening grapes which meant that we had very good flavour development in the Cabernet fruit.

Vintage

The 2016Švintage was not an easy one! The growing season was exceptionally dry with drought having a major impact on the crops. Despite the harvest being earlier than normal, conditions had cooled enough to allow later-ripening grapes a chance to catch up. Overall, the harvest was smaller than normal, but we made good wines, despite the challenges.

Winemaking

A careful selection was made in the vineyard and after de-stemming the grapes were fermented in a combination of stainless steel tanks and traditional open-top fermenters. We used a combination of punch downs and pump overs at different stages in fermentation and tried to extract as much flavour and tannin, at the beginning of fermentation, as possible. Towards the end of the process we drastically reduced the extraction and usually limit it to only one pump over per day not to over extract the wine and ensure we achieved the best balance. After primary fermentation the grapes were gently pressed and transferred to French oak barrels, 75% new, 25% 2nd and 3rd fill, for 20 months before final blending took place.

Enjoy with:

• Grilled and Roasted Red Meats
• Pizza/Pasta
• Casseroles/Stews
• Mature Strong Cheeses

Perfect with beef stew