Glenelly, Estate Reserve Rouge, 2017

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc

Vintage report

The 2017 growing season in Stellenbosch was shaped above all by drought. The Western Cape was deep into one of its most severe water crises in living memory, and the vines knew it. Yields were down across the board, and growers who had pushed their roots deep into the mountain soils of Simonsberg, Helderberg and Jonkershoek were better placed than those on flatter, more water-dependent sites. Stress, managed well, tends to concentrate rather than diminish — and that is broadly what happened here.

The wines that came through carry real definition: Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc produced fruit with firm structure and good natural acidity, and the better Chenin Blancs have a tautness that suits the variety well. These are not generous, opulent wines — they lean leaner and more mineral than some years, which we think is rather to their credit. The reds from top producers are drinking well now but have the backbone to hold for another five to eight years; the whites are largely at or approaching their peak.