DeMorgenzon Maestro White 2020

Grape varieties were picked across a range of different ripeness levels, sorted and whole bunch pressed after pre- chilling. Fermentation occurred naturally in small French oak barrels and cement eggs. Total ageing was 10 months from vintage with blending occurring after 8 months. A light filtration and fining took place before bottling.

Vertical shoot positioned vineyards allow for optimum ripening and ideal sunlight exposure of fruit. There is a good exposure of slopes to cooling southern breezes off False Bay. Vineyards are established on slopes with soils of weathered granite and sandstone. Yields are controlled to between 7 and 8 tons per hectare. On the back of a cold and wet winter, the 2020 growing season began very early, with homogenous budburst and even shoot growth. Summer was relatively mild, without the heatwaves often experienced in the Cape. The resultant crop retained high levels of natural acidity and abundant concentration of flavour. Particularly exceptional are the white wines of 2020, whilst the reds display early promise thanks to intense colour and tannin concentration.

10 months

59% Roussanne; 14% Chenin Blanc; 10% Grenache Blanc; 9% Marsanne; 8% Viognier

DeMorgenzon, ‘the morning sun,’ was so named as it is the first part of the Stellenboschkloof valley to see the sun because of its high altitude and aspects. We cover the top southern and eastern slopes of Ribbokkop, overlooking the pinnacle of Kanonkop from where a cannon was fired to alert the farms in the region that a ship had put into Table Bay. The first road from Cape Town to Stellenbosch ran through the Stellenbosch Kloof.