Grangehurst 2012

The grapes were harvested by hand into lug baskets (± 18 kg per basket); sorting of grapes prior to destemming and hand sorting again between the destemmer and crusher; then crushed (± 50% whole berries) and pumped to open fermenters; manual punchdowns (pigeage) 4 to 6 times per day for the duration of fermentation; between 7 and 16 days on skins, then drawn off and pressed using wooden basket presses; free-run and press wines blended and racked to 225 litre barrels; malolactic fermentation in barrels; barrel to barrel and barrel to tank rackings to clarify the wine – no filtration prior to racking to the bottling tanks. This wine was clarified according to the natural settling and racking method, which does not involve the use of any fining agents, centrifuges or filters – a natural, unhurried method of clarifying wine. Matured in French oak barrels for 35 months. The 14 barrels that were selected for this reserve wine were racked and blended into a stainless steel tank. After a period of settling, the wine was racked again into the stainless steel bottling tanks from where it flowed by gravity via a cartridge filter into the filler – 3,576 x 750ml bottles and 363 x 1.5 L magnums.

All the vineyards are in the coastal part of Stellenbosch and the quality of the grapes is positively influenced by the cool southerly summer sea breezes that blow across False Bay. The Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard and one of the Merlot vineyards are trellised. The other Merlot and the Petit Verdot are bush vines. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from “Sunset Vineyard” were harvested between the 12th February and 11th March. The Merlot – from two different vineyards – was on 19th February and 12th March. The Petit Verdot was harvested on 3rd March.

Recommended drinking 2016 to 2026 (if correctly cellared).

60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 21% Merlot; 19% Petit Verdot

This wine will pair well with any red meat dish especially a tomato based pasta, beef fillet or game meat.

Grangehurst is a boutique red wine cellar on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountain in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It is a family business that began in 1992 and specialises in the production of handcrafted red wines and a dry rosé, all made using traditional and sustainable winemaking practices. They harvest approximately 80 tons of red wine grape varieties and produce around 60 000 bottles per vintage. Their hands-on approach, years of experience, and uncompromising attention to detail ensure that only the highest quality wines are bottled under the Grangehurst label. Grangehurst's winemaker Jeremy Walker has crafted his wines from Grangehurst since 1992. Jeremy sources the finest grapes from the Stellenbosch region, and strives for every vintage to be made the age old way – using methods that are handcrafted, traditional, and unhurried.