2017 Keermont, Cabernet Franc, Pondok Rug, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Keermont Vineyards

Keermont intends to create wines that reflect the beautiful place from which they come and the particular year’s vintage conditions. The wines are made as naturally as possible with very little vineyard irrigation and minimal intervention in the winery.

The estate has been owned by the Wraith family since 2003. Two thousand and five saw the start of a significant vineyard-planting programme on lands that had been fallow for several years. Seventeen hectares were planted over four years to add to an existing eight hectares of older vineyards. Keermont’s official maiden vintage came in 2007.

The farm is high up in the picturesque Blaauwklippen Valley, or Paradyskloof (Paradise Valley) in South Africa. Due to the steepness of the terrain, the altitude climbs 200m within the 1.7km length of the farm, and the vineyards are planted between 250m and 400m above sea level. Thus, the vines planted over these different terrains produce wines with good complexity and various flavors. In addition, the proximity to False Bay and the Indian Ocean also moderates the climate in the vineyard.

Winemaker Alex Starey oversees the vineyards and makes the estate’s wines. Employed at the start of the redevelopment of the farm in 2005, he has traveled and worked in wine regions, including Maipo Valley in Chile, Penedès and Priorat in Spain, and St-Emilion and Côte-Rôtie in France.

Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch is South Africa’s best-known wine region, producing a wide variety of wines from leading estates, even though it accounts for less than 20 per cent of the country’s total production. Designated wards within the wine region are Jonkershoek Valley, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, Bottelary, Devon Valley and Papegaaiberg.

At 17,500 hectares, Stellenbosch remains the Cape's most famous and important fine wine district, thanks to its proximity to Cape Town, to the cooling influences of False Bay, its mountainous (ie Helderberg, Simonsberg), granitic topography and its centres of learning such as Elsenburg Agricultural College. 

It's notable for the refinement of its Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, especially from the likes of Glenelly Estate, Keermont Vineyards Oldenburg Vineyards, Raats Family and Anwilka

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is widely planted in Bordeaux and is the most important black grape grown in the Loire. In the Médoc it may constitute up to 15% of a typical vineyard - it is always blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is used to add bouquet and complexity to the wines. It is more widely used in St.Emilion where it adapts well to the cooler and moister clay soils - Cheval Blanc is the most famous Cabernet Franc wine in the world, with the final blend consisting of up to 65% of the grape.

Cabernet Franc thrives in the Loire where the cooler growing conditions serve to accentuate the grape's herbaceous, grassy, lead pencil aromas. The best wines come from the tuffeaux limestone slopes of Chinon and Bourgeil where growers such as Jacky Blot produce intense well-structured wines that possess excellent cellaring potential.