Brampton, the dynamic, individualistic wine range for free-thinkers and creative spirits, received major international acclaim when the Brampton Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 vintage won a gold medal at the recently announced Decanter World Wine Awards in London UK.

This influential wine show, now in its 14th year, is the world’s biggest wine competition with over 17 000 entries received in 2017. According to Jacques Roux, Marketing Director for brand owner DGB(PTY) Ltd, “We don’t really enter Brampton in any wine competitions but Richard Duckitt, the winemaker, insisted we show this wine against some serious opposition just to show its worth and class, so we are glad we did”.

The 2015 wine vintage was an outstanding one at Brampton, with dry weather resulting in healthy grapes with rich concentration and dense flavours. The grapes were hand harvested in small 20 kg boxes, destalked and received extended skin maceration post fermentation. Malolactic fermentation took place in stainless steels tanks followed by gentle oak maturation in a selection of predominantly older French oak barrels for 10 months.

This very accessible style of Cabernet Sauvignon has a well-defined fruit core of red cherry, mulberry and blackcurrant flavours on the palate. The savoury umami notes and soft, integrated tannins add to the complexity and intrigue of the wine. It is an excellent and versatile food partner, and especially complementary with braised short rib and sticky slow-roasted pork belly or charcuterie and matured cheeses.