Waterkloof, founded by Paul Boutinot in 2004, is a family-owned, organic, biodynamic, and WWF Biodiversity Champion farm perched high on the windswept Schapenberg hill, overlooking False Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Living soils, naturally low yields, and a long growing season help talented young winemaker Nadia Barnard cultivate naturally balanced grapes imbued with a truly defining sense of origin. These grapes are then vinified with minimal intervention. The resulting wines are of the highest quality!
The flavors and characteristics of the grapes are central. The whole bunches are carefully sorted and gravity-fed into wooden fermenters. Alcoholic fermentation begins spontaneously in the grapes thanks to naturally occurring yeast. After approximately three days of this intracellular fermentation, the grapes are foot-beaten twice daily to ensure a slow and gentle breaking of the grapes and to prevent over-extraction. The wine is kept on the skins for at least 30 days. This is followed by a gentle pressing. They are then placed in French oak barrels to complete malolactic fermentation, and the wine is then aged for eight months.
As you can probably tell from the name, this wine is best served at lower temperatures, around 14 degrees Celsius. Thanks to the aged bush vines, this wine has a balanced tannin structure and a lovely length. The nose combines cherries, licorice, and herbs with earthy notes.
