Aromas of spice, pencil shavings and white chocolate transcends into a complex layered pallet, finishing with silky soft and persistent tannins. The dried fruit and fruit cake flavours further add to the complexity of this unique and extraordinary wine.
Winemaker's Comment
This Cabernet Franc has been sourced from a vineyard which has shown over time to produce top quality wine. Whilst Cabernet Franc is mainly used as a blender to provide highlights of perfumes, florals and spice, the 2010 showed an extraordinary level of palate complexity which warranted this wine being selected as a stand-alone varietal for the Mentors label.
Thus the 2010 Cabernet Franc is a wine which meets our philosophy of honouring the diversity of terroir and climate and we hope that climatic conditions will in the future align to allow a similar quality.
Enjoy on its own or with fillet or tender veal dishes.
variety : Cabernet Franc [ 100% Cabernet Franc ]
winemaker : The Winemaking Team
wine of origin :
analysis : alc : 15.00 % vol rs : 2.74 g/l pH : 3.47 ta : 5.99 g/l
type : Red style : Dry wooded
pack : Bottle size : 0 closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Wine of Origin: Coastal Region
Treatment in vineyard
This vineyard, planted on the slopes of Simonsberg, is a cool site due to the south easterly winds during the growing season, which serves to promote slow even ripening. This is a relatively low yielding vineyard with extraordinary vine balance that results in wines with intense concentration and flavour.
Vintage conditions
The 2010 harvest will be remembered for its erratic weather changes, which posed a challenge for winemakers and viticulturist alike. Budding was earlier than expected, which introduced an early start for the 2010 harvest. The growing season was mild which promoted slow ripening, maximizing the development of berry flavours. Above average rainfall was recorded during the growing season, resulting in increased disease pressure and lower vineyard yields. Quality in general was very good, promising a range of excellent wines from the KWV Mentors range.
in the cellar : Grapes were harvested when optimally ripe and were hand sorted in the cellar to ensure that only the best fruit was used for fermentation. After 2 days of cold maceration the juice was inoculated with a selected yeast strain. Alcoholic fermentation lasted approximately 6 days and during that time, the wine was pumped over every 5 hours. The wine was pressed, then settled and transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation. The wine was then racked, and returned to barrel for maturation. During the 18 month maturation period the wine was racked twice.
Maturation: 18 Months in 70% new French Oak barrels
Total Production: 2 640L
Bottling Date: December 2011