Circumstance Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 by Waterkloof

ageing : 

5+ years

The 2013 winter was exceptionally cold and wet. This accumulation of cold units is very favourable to ensure an even budburst and an elegant ripening process. Leading up to winter, our main focus was to further improve the health of our soil by building life in the form of bacteria, fungi and earthworms. This was done by composting, cover cropping and the use of biodynamic preparations. We experienced high rainfall in mid-November and also in the beginning of January. Budburst was later this year as the winter seemed to carry on for longer. With the initial budburst, we only sprayed a fungi (Trichoderma specie) onto the buds to cover and protect them from any other fungal growth. The results were fantastic and as natural as can be. From the rest of January and mid to end of February the growing season was cool and optimal. There were no excessive heat spikes and the grapes were able to produce sufficient aromatics with the slower ripening period. We started picking about a week and a half later than usual. This year we were able to pick at a lower sugar level as the desired aromatics were achieved at this stage.

We harvest according to taste and spend a lot of our time in the vineyards to see how the flavours develop. Grapes were destemmed, hand sorted and placed into our open-top wooden fermenters via gravity. The natural fermentation started spontaneously- utilising the wild yeasts present on the fruit. Punch downs (twice a day) were used during fermentation to ensure a soft and slow colour and tannin extraction. The wines spent 30 days on the skins to help integrate the tannins and stabilize the colour. The skins were separated from the juice via gravity flow and gently pressed in a basket press. The wine went through malolactic fermentation in barrel and was then aged in new (20%), second and third fill (80%) French barrels for 20 months. The wine received no fining to ensure that the grapes are purely expressed in the wine. Only sulphur was added and no other additions, such as tartaric acid or enzymes, were allowed.