Van Loggerenberg Breton 2018
Another of my last minute lockdown purchases...
...and a wine I've been meaning to try for a very long time. I knew I'd finally have a moment to really sit back and experience this beauty...little did I know just how beautiful it truly is.
The Wine:
Medium ruby with the most enticing and pleasing pronounced nose filled with dark berries, raspberries, crushed violet petals (remember back when I didn’t know what violets smelled like!), charred wood, milk chocolate, vanilla, pepper, cloves, something herbal like eucalyptus? And...AND the pencil shavings that are my go-to tell for Cab Franc.
Juicy, medium bodied, silky fine tannins. I can’t tell whether my mouth is watering because of the medium+ acidity, or because of the juicy berries! Medium+ finish that has a fair amount of salinity to it. Bloody delicious!
I walked off to the kitchen to bake an apple pie...and kind of forgot about the wine in the glass. I came back after 45 minutes, took a sip and sighed ‘Cab Franc’.
Vini + Viti:
Two thirds of the fruit was sourced from Blue Grove Farm - these berries were 100% whole bunch fermented. The remaining third, coming from Klein Welmoed Farm, were 100% destemmed. Both vineyards are planted on decomposed granite with Koffieklip (the Afrikaans name for Ferricrete, a in the top layer.
The fruits were picked and vinified separately - naturally fermented with two weeks on their skins. After 10 months in the barrel, the wines were blended and then bottled.
Conclusion:
Balance (1) + Length (1) + Intensity (1) + Complexity (1) = An outstanding wine
Drink now, but potential for further ageing.
Final Thoughts:
I’m going to go ahead and say that this moves into 2nd position on the list of wines I wish I’d made.
The label designs for the Van Loggerenberg wines are gorgeous! Each one created in an unusual Photoshop layered style, and filled to the brim with symbolism:
The silhouette of a woman represents the elegance of Cabernet Franc. The horse is a Percheron breed that is perceived to be rough, but is elegant in the winemaker's opinion...similar to Cabernet Franc. The landmark seen in the label can be found in the Bluegum Grove vineyard. And the stamp shows a Donnie Merino sheep that was first cloned at Elsenburg Agricultural College where the winemaker studied.
Find the Wine:
www.vanloggerenbergwines.co.za and through their distributor www.exanimo.co.za
