BOSCHENDAL VIN'DOR 2018

Boschendal Brand Video

Boschendal’s heritage dates back to 1685 when Huguenot Jean le Long first established the farm with its breathtaking setting against the Groot Drakenstein Mountains. This iconic Cape wine estate is the pride of the Franschhoek Valley, celebrating with exceptional wines, food, architecture and landscape. The world has witnessed stellar examples of craftsmanship over the last three centuries. With over 330 years of winemaking experience, we would like to think the latest edition to our Heritage Collection is one of them.

The grapes used in this wine were picked from low-yielding vineyards to ensure its signature fruit concentration. The Weisser Riesling originates from Durbanville and the Viognier from the Elgin Valley. No irrigation and an extended hanging time in the vineyard allowed for superb concentration of flavours. Naturally the weather allowed for the formation of Botrytis, a fungus that grows on the grape skin, penetrating through the skin and creating a damaged spot from which moisture can slowly evaporate. Concentration of not only the sugar, but also natural acidity, in this case happens because of this slow evaporation. The Botrytis gives a unique taste to this wonderful work of nature. The grapes were hand-picked at the desired ripeness. Harvesting took place during mid-morning. The average sugar content of the grapes was between 35° and 40° Balling.

Because of the raisiny condition of the grapes, the crushing process was not possible. The whole bunches went to the press with the addition of pectolytic enzyme. All the draining channels of the press were closed to retain the bit of juice created during the loading process. This juice helped with the soaking of the raisiny berries. Skin contact was given in the press for two days during which time the press was rolled morning, midday and afternoon. This is done to ensure maximum flavour extraction and the soaking of the drier grapes to retain all the natural sugar. After pressing, the juice was settled for 24 hours. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks. A yeast strain resistant to this very high osmotic potential juice was used. Even with this selected yeast, the fermentation went very slowly and stopped naturally.