Wine Composition
Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc
Winemakers Comments
BOOK XVII has an opulent crème de cassis, fruitcake and fig scented bouquet with a palate that is ostentatious. However, this full-bodied turbo-charged wine is so silky smooth and seductive in a way that its charms are impossible to resist.
Vinyeards / Vintage
Using state-of-the-art equipment such as infrared aerial imaging, specific vines are singled out for the making of this exceptional wine, their cultivation, and nourishment conducted on an individual basis by dedicated staff skilled in the art of precision winemaking.
Winemaker
Name: Albie Koch
Winery
De Toren is a boutique Private Cellar, established by Emil & Sonette Den Dulk in 1994. The farm was named De Toren, which translated from Dutch means "the tower", and refers to wine structure which allows for gravity-flow winemaking.
The farm's maiden release was the 1999 vintage "Fusion V", a Cabernet Sauvignon has driven five-varietal Bordeaux style blend; a first for South Africa's wine industry.
De Toren doesn't have "a harvest" it has several micro-harvests over the course of many weeks; the time and location of each harvest are determined by near red aerial image. This technology allows us to monitor the vigor of clusters within each block, with different colours representing different growth patterns. When a cluster approaches ripeness we isolate demarcate and harvest separately; always at optimum ripeness. We are also able to identify variations within the vineyards with this technology that enables us to adapt our canopy management decisions...gaining valuable data and experience from each vintage and optimizing our harvests year on year - aiming for perfection!
