Boekenhoutskloof Franschoek Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Ample dark berry fruits show on a relatively shy but inviting nose, with a plethora of subtle spice, herbaceous aromas and fine floral nuances. Blackberries and dark cherries follow through onto a layered palate, with bright flavours of brambles, mulberries and red liquorice, and hints of graphite minerality, cedar spiciness and a gentle sous-bois character, creating utter complexity. A pure, crystalline fruit profile is perfectly balanced with bright freshness, integrated acidity, and very fine-grained, cocoa-powdery tannins, all contributing to the wine's sublime structure and exceptional depth. The mid-palate is vibrant, textured and lithe with a classic Bordeaux nervosite and silkiness. Blueberries, nutmeg and cloves linger on a sappy, pure finish.

Grapes for our Franschhoek Cabernet Sauvignon are picked from individual vineyards planted adjacent to one another, grown from deep alluvial soils of the valley, and from our own farm vineyards, on decomposed Granitic soils found on slopes surrounding Boekenhoutskloof. The Cabernet Sauvignon and small portion of Cabernet Franc vineyards planted at Boekenhoutskloof have been organically farmed for 12 years now and produce exceptional quality fruit, with each ongoing vintage. This vintage is particularly exciting since we decided to use even more fruit from these organically farmed vineyards.

Our 2019 Franschhoek vintage was great, with exceptionally long hang times. The harvest started in late March/beginning of April. The later picking times were caused by the dry Autumn conditions and cooler nighttime temperatures, prolonging the Cabernet Sauvignon hang times, resulting in elegant and perfumed wines with classic claret-like fruit profiles. We again opted to blend in a percentage of Cabernet Franc (10%) from our old mountain vineyard on the farm, which lends subtle fragrance and finesse to the dark fruit spectrum. We intended to create a classic Cabernet Sauvignon and respect the signature Boekenhoutskloof style. We worked with a dark berry fruit profile and captured the vintage's full, rich character and deep flavours.

We vinify gently to avoid huge, monstrous wines. Grapes were picked by hand into small lug boxes and then bunch sorted with berry selection and careful de-stemming. The grapes underwent a cold maceration in tulip-shaped concrete vessels, and fermentation took place at temperatures between 27deg and 30degC, with frequent pump-overs to extract aromas, colour and tannins. After spontaneous alcoholic fermentation, a prolonged malolactic fermentation occurred naturally in 225-litre barriques. The wine was matured on our OXOline system for 22 months in 80% new light toast, long seasoned French oak from our preferred coopers, Sylvain and Saury.