Sourced from the GS vineyard as well as a couple of other vineyards near Stellenbosch Mountain and then one in Somerset West, closer to the ocean. Important to note these are (leaf roll) virus free vineyards that average 20 years of age and yield about 3 ton/acre. All fruit was hand-picked. Sorting of bunches was done before destemming into 70-100 hl fermentation tanks. and Cultured yeasts were used for ferment. Bag pressing is the norm, although basket presses are the future. Post ferment maceration was done in closed tanks for 14 days. During this time pump overs are done twice a day (softer than punch downs). Roughly two months after harvest, the wine was ready to be racked
to (20% new, 60% 2nd fill, 205 3rd fill French) barrels, where it sat for about 14 months. Blending of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc component took place at 8 months. During this time it is only racked once, unlike Bordeaux, where more racking is generally required to polymerize the tannins. The assemblage was done with a view to creating
a balance between new world fruitiness/ripeness and classic old world Cabernet character. Coarse filtration and Vegecol (vegan friendly) fining, was done pre-bottling.