Vondeling Barrel Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

The wine displays a dark ruby red colour. Shows a beautiful aroma of sweet cloves, ripe plumbs and a hint of smoky cigar box. It has a broad, succulent palate with plenty of blackberry fruit and roasted nuts with fine, peppered tannins on the finish. Our Cabernet Sauvignon is best paired with hearty Italian-style dishes or a simple sirloin prepared over a hot bed of coals and severed with truffle and wild mushroom sauce.

The grapes used for this very special wine originate from the same vineyard used to make the highly acclaimed Bowwood blend. This Southwest-facing slope is located on one of Vondeling’s highest and most temperate slopes. The roots burrow deep into nutrient poor, well weathered granite soils. This offers great consistency of concentration and aroma. The grapes are harvested at 25°balling. Hand picking ensures that only the very best fruit enters the cellar.

Upon arrival at the cellar the grapes are pre-chilled before processing. Once chilled they are gently destemmed, and the berries cold soaked for two days before natural fermentation is allowed to occur. A combination of whole and crushed berries allows for a slow extraction of tannins and an intense fruit driven profile. Fermentation takes place in open top fermenters and extraction is encouraged by hand plunging. After fermentation, extended maceration on the skins is allowed for one week. Extended maceration allows the components to mesh and achieve greater harmony. The wine is then drained to 300Lt French and Hungarian oak barrels and the skins are pressed in a traditional wooden basket press.

Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel after which the wine is racked and returned to barrel for at least one full year. After 18 months in barrel, the wine is bottled and further maturation in bottle is allowed before being released.