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Ernie Els Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Name: Ernie Els Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Brand: Ernie Els Wines
SKU: 26865

This black-centered, beguiling and multi-dimensional Cabernet Sauvignon displays red rather than black fruits. Pencil shavings on the nose lead to a fresh entry and full-bodied succulent palate. A salty, savoury complexity with notes of graphite and tobacco overlay its modern, finely-tuned frame. The tannins are immense but polished, balanced by the vivid fruit of the wonderful 2009 vintage. Precise and varietally flawless, expect this brilliant Cabernet to have a serious future ahead whilst the tannins find their feet.

variety : Cabernet Sauvignon [ 100% Cabernet Sauvignon ]

winery : Ernie Els Wines

winemaker : Louis Strydom

wine of origin : Stellenbosch

analysis : alc : 14.5 % vol rs : 2.6 g/l pH : 3.77 ta : 6.4 g/l so2 : 79 mg/l

type : Red style : Dry body : Full wooded

pack : Bottle size : 0 closure : Cork

AWARDS

Gold Medal - Veritas Wine Awards; 4 Stars - John Platter
Gold Medal - Concours

ageing : Precise and varietally flawless, expect this brilliant Cabernet to have a serious future ahead whilst the tannins find their feet.

in the vineyard : The 2009 vintage
After a late start winter 2008 was like the Cape winters of old; plentiful rain and cold. Early spring rains with unusually cold weather delayed budding and growth thus suggesting the harvest would be at least two weeks late; some noticeably cooler than average weather also continued throughout January 2009. After good, even budding the cold weather affected flowering and berry set, this in-turn slowed down ripening resulting in great flavour accumulation. Berry size tended to be smaller than average hence giving an excellent fruit-to-skin ratio; the makings for outstanding colour intensity. The hot weather arrived later than usual- well into February. All fruit began ripening simultaneously, putting immense pressure on space in the cellar. Also during February we had to contend with bushfires in the Stellenbosch and Helderberg mountains which burned for about 5 weeks. The crop yield was slightly down; quality was excellent nonetheless.

About the vineyard
These vineyards grow on the warm north-facing slopes of the Helderberg region within the Stellenbosch appellation. The soils give our wines exceptional depth and fruit purity. Five clones of Cabernet Sauvignon were utilized in the production of this wine with CS46C being our most abundant in clonal selection. The cooling influence of the Atlantic Ocean just 15 kilometres away extends the ripening period by up to 3 weeks resulting in lovely phenolic ripeness.

about the harvest: The grapes were hand-picked in the cool of early morning.
February / March 2009 - 25.6° Brix average sugar at harvest

in the cellar : Grape bunches were gently destalked with a Bucher de-stalker and lightly crushed. On the sorting table, all excess stalks and rotten berries were removed carefully by hand. Fermentation took place in 7-ton, open top, stainless steel tanks with yeast WE 372 being added to the juice. The wines were pumped-over and punched-down manually 5 times per day ensuring maximum colour extraction from the skins. After primary fermentation the maceration period was 14 days before pressing.

Cooperage: Aged for 17 months - 300 litre French oak barrels (20% new).
Production: 4,800 x 6 x 750ml cases

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