Rietvallei Cabernet Franc awarded National Trophy at Terroir Awards

Robertson can make great red wine.

Rietvallei Estate, one of the Robertson Valley’s pioneering wine estates, has shown that blue blooded Bordeaux grape cultivars have found a home in this region by clinching the National Trophy for Cabernet Franc at this year’s Novare SA Terroir Wine Awards. The winning wine was the Rietvallei JMB Cabernet Franc 2011.

According to Kobus Burger, cellar master and owner of Rietvallei, which celebrated 150 years under the ownership of the Burger family in 2014, this award has special significance given the unique nature of the Novare awards. “It is a specialist wine competition and the only one of its kind in South Africa where the influence of the specific region’s terroir is used as benchmark by the judges,” says Burger.

“In light of Cabernet Franc’s reputation as one of the world’s classic and oldest red grape varieties, as well as the quality of South African wines made from this grape, it is an immense honour to receive the National Trophy in this category,” he says. “It gives recognition to the viticultural and winemaking team who obviously played a big role in the final product, but the true recognition goes to the nature of Robertson. There is mounting proof that the soils and climate here are perfectly suited to the production of premium wines, the national Terroir Award being but one example.”

“So while it is a wonderful feather in the cap for Rietvallei and my team in the cellar and vineyard, it is also a huge boost for Robertson’s reputation as one of South Africa’s leading wine regions.”

The JMB Cabernet Franc originates from vineyards planted in 2003. Apart from the lime-rich soils – Robertson’s soils contain the most lime of any South African wine region – the sunny, yet cool and dry climate is a definite asset.

“Lime soils create elegance and balance in wine, and is very sought-after around the world – Burgundy is probably the best example of this,” says Kobus. “And given our relatively low rainfall coupled with the dry wind I find that Cabernet Franc ripens particularly well and evenly which means that we don’t have to worry about green flavours. On the contrary, the fruit elements really come to the fore in a big way.”

The respect that Burger has for this grape variety is evident in the tender treatment the JMB Cabernet Franc receives in the cellar.

“Wild yeast gets the wine going, so no commercial yeast is added – only the natural yeast cells in the air convert the grapes’ sugar into alcohol,” he says. And when it comes to wood maturation, the wine receives 26 months in new French oak. “Of course you don’t want to overpower your wine with wood, but long contact with good oak builds the wine’s structure and ensures that the complexity of the Cabernet Franc flavours develops to the full.”

And following the results of this year’s Terroir Awards, the wine tastes better than ever.