in the vineyard : History & Vineyards
More than sixty years' experience has enabled us to identify single vineyards of exceptional potential in the area bordered to the North by Stellenbosch, Wellington in the North-East, the mountains of Franschoek and Drakenstein to the South-East and Durbanville & Philadelphia in the South and South-West.
When Boland Wine Cellar identified an opportunity to create "single vineyard" wines, they made an additional investment in the cellar setup in order to separately and appropriately vinify smaller parcels of grapes.
Planted in the mid 1990's, this single vineyard lies on the plains that stretch south west of Paarl. This trellised vineyard received supplementary irrigation and production control limits the yield to approximately 8ton/ha. Intensive canopy management optimises the relationship between sun and shade on the ripening of the berries. The vineyard is planted on a slightly east-facing slope that enjoys full sun in the mornings and very little in the late afternoons. The confluence of all these features make for small, thick skinned berries with intensely concentrated aromas and a good tannic grip.
in the cellar : Grapes were de-stemmed, crushed and cold macerated for 3 - 4 days at 12° C. Alcoholic fermentation was allowed to start spontaneously using the wild yeast on the skins of the grapes. This makes for a more natural, less manipulated wine that expresses the season and the terrior as specifically as possible. Fermentation temperatures fluctuate between 15° - 26° C. We use macro oxidation techniques (emulating manual punch downs of the cap) and regular pump-overs to extract colour and fruit while extended maceration of 5 - 8 days after fermentation is allowed. All of the wine will undergo malolactic fermentation in small barrels of predominantly American oak. We make almost exclusive use of new barrels, but experimentation with older barrels is ongoing. Further barrel maturation of 16 - 18 months is allowed for.