Raats Family Wines, 2020 Cabernet Franc, Stellenbosch, South Africa
The story of the Rainbow's End estate begins in 1978 when the property was purchased by Jacques Malan. Their first vineyards were planted 2001 and 2001. Today the estate is comprised of around 22ha of vineyards, it is being run by Jacques's sons Anton and François. They have approximately 2.6ha of Cabernet Franc planted, and this variety has been a focus for the estate since the beginning, with their first single-varietal Cabernet Franc being made in 2005. And today they make three Cabernet Francs, including two reds and a rosé.
So, today's wine is taking us to Stellenbosch, which is one of the most historic wine districts in South Africa. Stellenbosch is a big district representing approximately 16.5% vineyard plantings in South Africa, making it the number #1 region in the country for hectares under vine. The region's macroclimate would be characterized as Mediterranean, with moderating influences primarily coming from three elements: the cooling breezes off of False Bay, altitude, as well as vineyard aspect.
And while the district is just a little over 20km wide, there is a lot of variability in terms of mesoclimates within Stellenbosch, which has led to the creation of 7 distinct wards, all of which slightly different climates, topographies and soils. Generally speaking the wards furthest west, such as Polkadraai Hills, will have the strongest cooling influences from the winds off of False Bay, which is the main moderating influence there. As you move east, this cooling influence from the ocean becomes a little less pronounced and the temperatures get warmer, and the wards in the middle of Stellenbosch tend to be the warmest.
Today's wine is taking to Banghoek, which is the ward that is the further east in the Stellenbosch district. Actually it was Jacques Malan who was the one who began the initial process to register Banghoek as an official wine ward back in 2005. And while this ward is relatively young, with most vines planted only within the last 20 years or so, from my research, I have a hunch that this is an exciting emerging region for Cabernet Franc with a number of examples from the region receiving accolades locally and internationally, including this one from Rainbow's End, and several wineries putting a strong emphasis on the variety.
So let me give you an overview of the key elements that influence the growing conditions here. The region begins about 4km east of the town of Stellenbosch, and the vineyard area follows the Banghoek River valley approximately 5km from north to south. The region is surrounded by three major mountain ranges that have an impact on the region's mesoclimate: the Simonsberg Mountains, which are just north of Banghoek, the Jonkershoek mountains to the southwest, and the Groot Drakenstein mountain range to the southeast.
These mountains play a few roles here. Firstly, they create vineyard areas that are at higher elevations, typically 400 to 500m above sea level. This altitude creates a wide diurnal range in temperatures, so the warm daytime temperatures are offset by much cooler evening temperatures, which helps to slow down ripening, extending the growing seasons, and preserve acidities. These mountains also help to cast shadows on the vineyards during certain points in the day, helping to provide shading for the vines from the sun. Finally, these mountains help to funnel in the cooling breezes from the southeast, and also the drier breezes from the north, known as berg winds, that help to moderate conditions and eliminate excess moisture from the air, which helps to reduce disease pressure.
And indeed the region receives a relatively high amount of rainfall per year, upwards to 1000mm of rain, the most of any ward in Stellenbosch. And this is actually a good thing for Cabernet Franc, because the grape is not drought tolerant, and prefers conditions where it receives regular moisture throughout the growing season.
And what about soils? Generally, there are three very broad groups of soils we find in South Africa. We have soils derived from table mountain sandstone, those derived from granite, and those derived from shale. Those that are derived from granite have a good combination of drainage capabilities and also water retention capacity, and that is what we find predominantly in this area.
So, we have slightly cooler conditions thanks to altitude, as well as a wide diurnal range in temperatures which slows ripening and extends the growing season allowing for greater phenolic maturity without excessive accumulation of sugars, we have a good amount of rainfall and moisture retentive soils, and while I haven't visited this region or tasted many examples of Cabernet Franc from here, this all signals to me that this could potentially be a happy place for Cabernet Franc.
So, drilling down to today's wine and where we are exactly in Banghoek. We are in the very southern end of the valley, on north-facing slopes, in the foothills of the Jonkershoek mountains. There are two blocks of Cabernet Franc vines of totalling about 1.34ha, that were both planted in 2001, and the clones used are clone 1, which is a South African clone, and Clone 214. The vines are planted on relatively steep northwest and northeast facing slopes, giving good sun exposure all year round because the north-facing slopes are the ones that face the equator in the southern hemisphere. And we're at an elevation of about 450-550m above sea level. The vineyards do experience a wide diurnal range in temperatures, which helps to slow down ripening and prolong the growing season, and this is actually one of the latest ripening sites for Cabernet Franc in Stellenbosch, about 2 weeks later than what is typical. Finally, the soils here are known locally as red oakleaf, which is a granite-derived sandy-clay loam with good water holding capacity.
From a winemaking perspective, the fruit is all hand-harvested and hand-sorted. The grapes are destemmed and not crushed. They do a 3 day cold soak before fermentation begins, and fermentation is in open-top tanks with selected yeast, with a fermentation temperature that hovers around 25-28C. For the first third of fermentation, they will do regular punch downs, and then switch to pump-overs until the fermentation is complete. The total time on skins is about 35 days. The wine is drained off the skins, the skins pressed via a manual basket press. Then the finished wine ages for 12 months in 225L French oak barrels, 30% of which is new.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Rainbow’s End
Region: Coastal Region
District: Stellenbosch
Ward: Banghoek
Soils: red oakleaf, a granite-derived sandy-clay loam
Alcohol: 14.5%
