KWV The Mentors Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

ageing : The wine can be enjoyed now, but cellaring for a further five to eight years will be rewarded.

This is the first year we have introduced a straight Cabernet Sauvignon into the KWV The Mentors range, believing that in other years we have enhanced our Cabernets by blending in other varieties. The year 2012 was wonderful for Cabernet. The resultant wine is a blend of Cabernet from Somerset West, Darling and Paarl. It is very expressive and densely flavoured.

The winter preceding the 2012 vintage was characterized by far lower than average rainfall. This trend continued into the summer, resulting in vineyards showing signs of lower soil moisture by way of the reduced berry size and bunch weight. A cooler ripening season with even temperatures led to steady and measured ripening of the grapes. Overall, the smaller berry size and lower yields promise great concentration, good quality and intense colour in the 2012 vintage wines.

Grapes were harvested when optimally ripe and hand sorted in the cellar to ensure only the best fruit was used for fermentation. After two days of cold maceration the juice was inoculated with a selected yeast strain. Alcoholic fermentation lasted approximately six days and during this time, the wine was pumped over every four hours. It was pressed, then settled and transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation. The wine was then racked and cleaned, and returned to barrel for maturation. After 12 months the best wines were selected to mature for a further six months. In total over the 18-month maturation period the wine was racked twice. This wine is truly about selecting the best-of-the-best.

Maturation: The wine spent 18 months in 70 % new French oak barrels
Total production: 3 250L
Bottling date: January 2014