Country: South Africa
Region: Franschhoek and the Coastal Region
Grape: Grenache and Syrah
Viticulture: Organic Farming
Vinification: All fruit is hand-harvested in February from selected sites in Franschhoek and Paarl. Both cultivars are fermented whole bunch, with some whole berry fruit, there is no crush, just a daily pump over during the natural fermentation. With the aim to express place over cultivar so this slow, gentle extraction gives wines truer of origin than winery. The components are racked to French and Austrian oak, new and old, for 8 months before the blend is decided. This blend is then allowed to marry for 6 weeks prior to coarse filtration and bottling on the farm.
A warm, spicy nose with notes of freshly cracked black pepper, allspice and ripe plum. Lots of red berry and dark fruits with fresh acidity.
Winemaking by JD Rossouw. The Wildeberg farms sits in the untamed mountain above Franschoek. An established wine region for some 350 years, sensible generations never thought to plant a vine here until a happy band of idealists recently craned their necks up at this hillside and, dizzy with hope, decided to give it a go. Franschhoek is on the very edge of the south-eastern corner of the Cape’s venerable Coastal Region, indeed Wildeberg’s property border runs over the top of the mountain where the Coastal Region gives way to the baboon-strewn road to Grabouw and the wider Western Cape.