“The Pondokrug Cabernet Franc 2018 is bright blood red in colour. The nose is a deep, complex and intriguing mix of bright red cherry fruit, cloves, and some typical pyrazine character. The palate is firm and structured with subtle cherry and black current flavours with hints of herbal mountain vegetation (fynbos). The dusty, chalky tannins hold the fruit flavours into a long, succulent and dry finish. Drink 2024-2036.” – winemaker’s tasting notes

All grapes used in producing this wine are grown on two small terraces of Pondokrug. These small parcels of grapes are harvested by hand at optimal ripeness and vinified separately. Fermentation is carried out by yeast which occurs naturally on the grape skins and in the winery. The wines spends 3 -4 weeks fermenting and macerating on the skins in small open top tanks with one or two gentle punch-downs performed per day. This wine spent 20 months maturing in seasoned 225L French oak barrels before being bottled by hand without filtration. 1370 bottles and 50 Magnums were produced.

Despite prevailing drought conditions, 2018 was a very good growing season on Keermont. They had a fairly cold winter although it was drier than usual. Spring arrived quite early and the warm weather ensured an even budburst. They had some good rain showers during the season which allowed for the vines to grow sufficiently. These factors led to the formation of a healthy crop which ripened evenly. They had very notable diurnal temperature variation during this season (warm days and cool nights) which is responsible for good tannin, colour and flavour development. Harvest started at the beginning of February and ran very smoothly. They processed 87 tons (13 varieties) in the Keermont winery over the period of 7 weeks.

ANALYSIS: ALC 15% | TA 6 g/l | RS 1.7 g/l | pH 3.5