Coterie Cabernet Franc & Malbec 2020

This wine is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The Wildeberg estate will source its supplies from the best vineyards in the Franschoek and Paarl region. This vintage is produced according to the fundamental principles of the estate, namely minimal intervention, fermentation with native yeasts and low filtration. All the fruit is harvested by hand and carefully transported to the cellar. Each grape variety is vinified independently and aged for 20 months in new and old oak barrels . Then comes the blend which will rest for 6 months before bottling. This wine expresses aromas of wild blackberry , black plum , blackcurrant , blueberry , clove , dry herbs , roasted cocoa , black pepper and leather . The palate is round and creamy, the tannins are fine and velvety and the finish is tasty and slightly spicy.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s. Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles. South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.