VINTAGE 2017

The 2017 vintage was the second consecutive very dry season, with far below Long-Term (LT) average rainfall. Our saving Grace was below LT average temperatures during the months December to March, which contributed enormously to the normal, gradual perfect ripening of our grapes. The absence of significant heatwaves further buffered the impact of the drought in a very positive way, enabling our grapes to ripen slowly under perfect conditions.

We had a very good onset of the vintage with good, even budding and great fertility. As a result we could choose the perfect, most even bunches once again throughout the season with our various bunch selection phases.

The impact of the favourable season was that we had a slightly larger crop of astounding quality and well balanced wine recovery than in the previous vintage, for which we were very thankful.

Berries were just a touch smaller than normal due to the dry conditions, but flavour and colour were more concentrated. Our well trained vineyard team worked timeously on their meticulous canopy management, which resulted in very limited losses due to sunburn and over exposure.

Our well managed crop ripened perfectly. It was one of the healthiest vintages in history. In terms of grape quality, there are a few very positive aspects which were all beneficial: huge variation between day and night temperatures resulted in very intense colour, while overall cooler temperatures lead to slower ripening and slightly lower alcohol despite well rounded tannins and flavour.

The promising young red wine has incredible intensity on nose and palate, with an amazing balance.