Cederberg, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cederberg, 2018

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Cederberg, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cederberg, 2018

In the cool mountain vineyards Cabernet enjoys a long ripening period, excellent for aromatics. From twenty year old vines on largely west-facing plots, this isn't picked until March, two months after the harvest starts in warm regions in the Cape. . For what it's worth (as the methodology appears abstruse) this vintage has a Platinum 100 point score in the SAwi (South African wine index).

Classic blackcurrant Cabernet perfume; and that follows onto a rich palate, with layers of black fruit, and fine tannins for keeping too. Plenty of oak (40% new, 45% a year old and 15% two year old) also gives structure. Now-2025

This is made by David Nieuwoudt, who took over the amazing Cederberg estate from his father in 1997. The vineyards here are the highest in the Cape,at 1100-1150 metres up in the Cederberg mountains. Good natural rainfall, around 550-600mm, cool temperatures (occasionally snow-showers in winter), with plenty of wind, mean that Cederberg enjoys a near perfect climate, in particular a long ripening period oerfect for Cabernet. The whites are mountain-fresh, with plentiful natural acidity.

Not content with the efforts he has made at Cederberg - for example the new plantings into the hard shale slopes - he has also bought land in windswept Elim in the far south of the country on slate and granitic soils. He has branded his wines from there Ghost Corner, the name sailors used to give to nearby Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point of Africa.