Durbanville Hills Caapmans Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2007

Made in a classic style with ceder, black berries, mulberry and blackcurrants.  Rich, full-bodied wine with firm tannins and an abundance of fruit following through from the nose. Mocha and dark chocolate balanced with vanilla oak and a lingering palate with classic tomato cocktail descriptors.

In the Cellar

Each cultivar was separately vinified. After 24 hours of cold soaking, the must was fermented on the skins (between 26° and 28° C) in closed, specially designed auto fermenters until dry. During this period the maximum fruit, colour and tannin extraction from the skins was made possible through very soft, continuous timer-regulated pump-over cycles. To soften the texture, the wine was left on the skins for two weeks after the fermentation period. Controlled malolactic fermentation took place in tank after which the wine was matured for 24 months in tight-grained new French oak, and blended before bottling where after it was matured in the bottle for a further six months.

The wine is named for the Caapmans, a loosely knit group of herder tribes the early settlers encountered grazing their cattle along the Cape's West Coast and inland, around the hills of Durbanville.