Alto Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

Colour: Plum red. Bouquet: Cherries, violets, black olives, some dark chocolate and a hint of tobacco. Taste: Full-bodied and mouth-filling with cherries, tobacco, dark chocolate and a good tannic structure.

This wine is made from grapes of north-facing vines, between 9 and 23 years old, that grow in decomposed granite soils and clay subsoil situated at altitudes of 135m to 500m above sea level. The vines on the higher slopes are fanned by the cooling maritime breezes from nearby False Bay. A seven-wire Perold trellising system is used, which yielded an average of 8 tons per hectare.

The grapes were harvested by hand at the end of March at 25º to 26º Balling. After destalking and crushing, the mash was fermented in stainless steel tanks at 25º to 27ºC, using the selected NT 112 yeast culture. The juice was separated from the skins after 10 days. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was racked into first-, second- and third-fill French oak barrels and matured for 18 months.