The quest to understand the name of this wine and the wine itself is now the stuff of legend – While Boekenhoutskloof are not about to reveal all, we can say that the style of the wine is a reflection of our belief that the Cape, with its Mediterranean climate, is eminently suited to blended reds. The make-up of this wine is tweaked from vintage to vintage to best reflect the season and the ancient vines of great character that are an integral part of the wine's charm and personality.

WINEMAKERS COMMENTS:

The 2011 Chocolate Block is a blend of Syrah (69%); Cabernet Sauvignon (11%); Grenache noir (14%); Cinsault (5%) and Viognier (1%).

This wine is the perfect example of identifying "undiscovered" parcels of vineyard with amazing potential and utilising it to unleash its world class quality. The Syrah and Viognier fruit come from Malmesbury (Swartland) with its unique growing conditions and dryland farmed vineyards to ensure it deep-rooted vines and therefore optimal concentration of colour, flavour and tannin structure. The Grenanche Noir is sourced from Piekenierskloof (Citrusdal) with its very sandy soils and perfect terroir for ripening this grape varietal. This batch was matured in 600L barrels to retain the unmistakable fruit and freshness on the cultivar. The Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from Franschhoek and the Cinsault is from old bushvines on decomposed granite soils in Wellington. The wine matures in 2nd and 3rd filled French oak barrels for 18 months before it gets a light egg-white fining. 1432 barriques were selected for this wine.

TASTING NOTES:

The influence of the Grenache’s red fruits on this wine is striking. The nose shows an abundance of redcurrant, plums, crushed rock, and an array of spices. The floral notes adds to its complexity. The freshness of the wine puts its head in front of the previous vintages. Spicy oak aromas cover a rounded mid-palate that reveals layers of fruit with intense purity. Textured, composed and seamless in style.