The nose is subtle, yet perfumy with its complex bouquet of red currant, dark cherries and blueberry and enticing whiffs of bergamot and cedar. Red and dark berry fruit follows through onto a medium-bodied palate with flavours of fresh fig and nutmeg. The mid-palate is focused, silky and poised with a charcoal-edged texture and very fine-grained tannins, with perfect acidity to balance. The wine lingers with hints of clove, crushed gravel and cocoa powder on a mineral-tinged, pure finish.

The intention was to create a textbook claret and to respect the signature Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet style. We worked with a classic dark berry fruit profile and managed to capture the full, rich character and deep flavours offered by the vintage. We opted for gentle vinification to avoid huge, monstrous wines. Grapes were picked by hand into small lug boxes, bunch sorted with berry selection and gently destalked. The grapes underwent a cold maceration in traditional concrete vessels and then fermented at temperatures between 27° and 30°C with frequent pump-overs to extract aromas, colour and tannins. After alcoholic fermentation a prolonged malolactic fermentation occurred naturally in 225 litre barriques. The wine was matured in French oak from our preferred coopers, Sylvain and Saury.