Boekenhoutskloof

Boekenhoutskloof was established in 1776. Located in the furthest corner of the beautiful Franschhoek valley, the farm's name means "ravine of the Boekenhout" (pronounced Book-n-Howed). Boekenhout is an indigenous Cape Beech tree greatly prized for furniture making. In 1993 the farm and homestead was bought and restored and a new vineyard planting programme was established that now includes Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Semillon and Viognier.

Loads of violets, blackcurrant fruit pastilles, white and black pepper with jamon and petrichor adding to the complexity. The purity and depth of fruit, firm velvety tannins and refreshing acidity shows the massive aging potential of this vintage. Textured, composed and seamless in style.

Goes great with a warming tagine.

The complexity of this wine also benefits from the diversity in grape composition from the nine different picks. The fruit is kept in the cold room overnight before it gets sorted and crushed into concrete fermenters. A 20-30% whole bunches are put into the bottom of the tank of most batches to get a slight effect of carbonic maceration. After 4 days of cold soaking, the fermentation starts by only using “wild yeasts”. The primary fermentation is done within two and a half weeks with the temperature that peaks at around 28-29°C. During the fermentation the wine gets a delestage 2 – 3 times per day. Pigeage is rarely done on the Syrah. It also received a post-fermentation maceration for another week before being pressed to 2nd filled Saury barrels to undergo MLF. After 18 months in barrel the wine gets a light egg-white fining and racking before its final 8 months in oak. A half of the blend was matured in two older 2500L French oak foudre for the final 8 months. 1035 cases were bottled in 2013.