By KWV
The Mentors Cabernet Franc 2019

Wine Details
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Components: 100% Cabernet Franc
Vineyards: 100% Stellenbosch

Vintage Conditions
The 2019 season showed great promise with improved winter rains. However, variable weather conditions, with continuous temperature fluctuations, resulted in inconsistent bud break and uneven flowering, followed by slow and uneven ripening. Reds were most affected, and overall yields were down. Except for the lower yields on Sauvignon Blanc, white varieties were as expected. The challenges are not without rewards: whites are bright and flavourful with good aromatics. Reds have soft tannins with rich fruit and generosity.

Winemaking
Grapes were harvested at optimal ripeness and hand-sorted in the cellar to ensure the best fruit was used for fermentation. After a two-day cold maceration, the juice was inoculated with selected yeast. Alcoholic fermentation lasted approximately six days, and the wine was pumped over every four hours. It was pressed, settled, and transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation. The wine was then racked, cleaned, and returned to barrel for maturation. After 12 months, the best wines were selected to mature for six more months. In total, over the 18-month maturation period, the wine was racked twice. This wine is truly about selecting the best of the best.

Production Notes
Maturation: The wine spent 18 months in 70% new French oak barrels
Bottling Date: December 2020

Wine Description
This wine shows aromas of spice, pencil shavings, fynbos, and dark cherries. The complex, layered palate delivers a silky soft finish with powdery tannins. The juicy characteristics of this extraordinary wine contribute to its bold structure and complexity.

Serving Suggestions
Enjoy the wine on its own, with beef fillet or dishes of tender veal.

Cellaring Potential
This wine can be enjoyed now, but cellaring for an additional five to eight years will be rewarded.

Wine Analysis
pH: 3.32
Total Acidity: 6.59 g/l
Residual Sugar: 2.45 g/l
[Information provided by Classic Wines]

KWV, The Mentors Cabernet Franc, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2019
Producer: KWV
Wine Name: The Mentors Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2019
Region: Stellenbosch
Country: South Africa
Award: Best in Show
Score: 97
Color: Red
Style: Still - Dry (below 5 g/L residual sugar)
Closure: Natural Cork
Alcohol Level: 14.50%
Bottle Size: 75cl
Grape Composition: 100% Cabernet Franc
Tasting Notes: Those seeking out reds based on Cabernet Franc beyond their French home are, often enough, looking for a red wine which combines something of the structure and command of Cabernet Sauvignon but with more lift, grace and aromatic refinement. The red wine from this year's brace of South African Best In Show winners fills that role admirably. It's dark in colour, with refined, complex, raspberry and root-spice aromas in subtle and uninsistent style. Look out for bright, pure raspberry fruits on the palate with a further twist of liquorice and gentian. The structure comes more from the wine's quiet, limpid acidity than from any notable tannin presence, further unscoring that accessibility and responsiveness.