Auction Wines 2018

Whole bunch pressed, no settling. Naturally fermented in older, big wood. Matured for 11 months on lees. Bottled with minimum interference. Serve with crayfish bisque, petit poulet and creamed spinach or alikreukel trio (ref. the CWG book “Cellarmasters in the Kitchen”). Previous vintages of this wine have been accoladed 92 – 96 points, 5-stars in the Platter wine Guide, Tim Atkin’s highest scoring internationally wooded Sauvignon Blanc and the most successful Sauvignon Blanc in the history of the CWG Auction - a true benchmark.

Grapes were naturally fermented with three punch-downs a day. 40% whole bunch. The wine then went through malolactic fermentation in 400 litre French oak barrels where it aged for another 18 months. 30% new oak used.

Hand-picked fruit, nourished by the shale soils of the Ceres Plateau, was crushed before undergoing three days of cold maceration on the skins, after which it was fermented in stainless steel tank for approximately six days with gentle pneumatic punch-downs. The wine was then carefully basket pressed and transferred to second fill French oak for malolactic fermentation on the fine lees, after which it was moved into other second and third fill French oak barrels for a maturation period lasting 12 months.

Perfectly ripe Grenache Blanc, deep yellow in colour, was hand harvested and gently crushed into a cool tank. The crushed fruit was left to macerate for 24-36 hours, before gentle pressing. A short settling was followed by natural fermentation in cask. Malolactic fermentation was allowed to complete and was followed by maturation on the gross lees for 12 months.

The wine is made in a two ton fermenter where it is pumped over three to four times per day and spends 18 days on the skins. Only the free run wine goes into the barrels for the CWG bottling, no press juice is used. Maturation is 20 months in 100% new French oak hogsheads before being bottled.

A single vineyard wine from the Helderberg area in Stellenbosch. Traditionally fermented in open tanks, manual plunging and extended maceration. Aged for two years in French oak. This vineyard has formed the base of our production since 1999 and has established a lasting friendship with the producer over the years. The moderate climate due to the proximity of False Bay and the well-drained gravelly soils have proven this site to be one of the finest terroirs for the production of Cabernet Sauvignon.

The grapes were hand-harvested; destemmed, hand-sorted, crushed and then pumped to open fermentation tanks; manual punch-downs four to six times per day for colour,tannin and flavour extraction; basket pressed and matured for 28 months in French (80%) and American (20%) oak barrels with gentle gravity-flowbottling.

The grapes were harvested at optimal ripeness 25° balling. Fermented in open top fermenters with regular punch-downs for maximum extraction. Wines were pressed and malolactic fermentation was allowed in stainless steel. The wines were then put in barrel consisting of 85% new French oak for a period of 18 months before blending and bottling.

Specially made for the CWG Auction, this reserve Chardonnay is  traditionally  made  using natural, wild yeast from the acclaimed Nine Yards Chardonnay vineyard. Intensely concentrated lemon-lime flavours and slow fermentation in 228 litre Burgundian oak barrels for twelve months has resulted in a classic style with a new world twist. Quartzite veins through the 600 million year old granite sub-strata provide the backbone for the classic mineral flavours.

Grapes from 29-year-old vineyards were picked at 24° balling. At the cellar the grapes were destemmed, sorted and crushed into open top fermenters. The skins were punched down every two hours for six days. After malolactic fermentation the blend was made, and the wine went to 100% new French oak barrels for 23 months.

This is an expression of the Cabernet Sauvignon block used as a basis for my Max blend growing on slate soils in the Bottelary area of Stellenbosch. The vineyards are unirrigated and produce low yielding fruit (2 to 4 tons/hectare), giving a pure expression of its environment. The grapes are handled with the utmost care in the cellar. Natural winemaking principles are followed with no additions besides sulphur to the grapes and the wine. The wine was matured for 22 months in barrels, of which 33% were new.

This extremely rare 100% Semillon Gris is from a 58-year-old, dry farmed, Certified Heritage Vineyard grown on the granite soils of the Paardeberg in the Swartland. The grapes were picked by hand in the cool, early morning. In the winery, the gently whole-bunch pressed Semillon Gris was fermented naturally in neutral barrels and bottled after one year. This wine, in texture and intensity, reflects the personality of the 2017 vintage in the Swartland.

Whole berry fermentation is initiated in a stainless steel tank. The grapes underwent a series of punch-downs and pump-overs until dry. Malolactic fermentation completed in new and second fill French oak barrels. This wine spent 18 months in 60% new French oak barrels and 40% in second fill.

This is a bare-bones glimpse at Windansea, the power dimension to Pinot Noir on our farm. Grown in the stoniest and most clay-rich of our granite soils, the bunches were selectively picked by the family for this small cuvée. Made without sulphur in the winemaking, allowing diverse micro-organisms from the grape itself to flourish unrestrained in the fermentation, enhancing complexity. 11 months maturation, with a further six months élevage in large oak. Unfiltered, it will age over many years in bottle.

For the past nine years, we have selected the grapes for the Paul Cluver Wagon Trail Chardonnay from the same vineyard planted in 1987. After whole bunch pressing and settling without any settling agents, the wine was 100% wild fermented in a selection of French oak barrels (33% new, the rest second and third fill). Lees stirring was done to a lesser degree to retain freshness. The wine remained on the lees for a total of nine months without any sulphur addition.