Background
Du Toitskloof Wine Cellar (DTK) was established by six wine farmers as a cooperative winery in 1962. Today it has 22 members whose vineyards all lie within a 10 km radius of the cellar. It is located near the town of Rawsonville in the Breede River Valley, at the entrance to the Du Toitskloof Mountain Pass. The stony soils of the area are ideally suited to grape growing. DTK’s award-winning wines are known for their excellent quality at affordable prices, and during the last five years it has been rated the South African cellar offering the best value by WINE magazine, three times. The cellar produces some 10 million litres of wine a year from 13 500 tons of grapes, of which 60% is white and 40%, red. Its major white cultivar is Sauvignon blanc, followed by Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Semillon. The main red cultivars are Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot and Pinotage.

In the vineyards
All the grapes for this blend came from within 5 km of the Du Toitskloof cellar. The vines, grafted on to Richter 99, 110 and 114 rootstock, are grown in two types of soil. The weathered sale from Koue Bokkeveld group delivers full bodied wines whilst the sandy loam soils with the underlying ‘bolder bed’ approximately 40m deep, produce fruity wines. Based on soil moisture levels as measured by neutron hydrometers in the vineyards, controlled irrigation is applied, thereby also ensuring small berries with an excellent skin to fruit ratio providing an intense colour and flavour spectrum. Leaf canopies were carefully managed to ensure the berries receive adequate sunlight. The grapes were picked when they reached optimum physiological ripeness.

In the cellar
The grapes were pressed at 24° to 26° Balling where after the juice was pumped to rotor tanks where it was left on the skins for two days at temperatures between 10° to 15°C to allow maximum extraction of colour and flavour. Selected yeast strains were added and fermentation allowed to take place at a controlled temperature of 24°C while the rotor tanks were turned every four to six hours to increase skin contact. After the primary fermentation lasting six to eight days, the wine was racked and the skins pressed. After malolactic fermentation the wine was aged for eight months in French oak before bottling.