Wine Composition
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemakers Comments
Youthful, vigorous and focused, it has capsicum and pencil shaving top notes, layered damson and blackcurrant fruit, racy acidity and structured, dense, age worthy tannins. Very classy indeed.
Awards
Tim Atkin | 96 points
Technical Analysis
Alcohol Percentage
14.45%
TA
6.1g/l
pH
3.63
RS
1.6g/l
Vineyard / Cellar Techniques
Reserve status is only endowed if the grapes and resulting wine measures up to exceptional standard. Hand selected grapes from older, lower yielding vines are used. Fermentation is done with a selected yeast strain under controlled temperatures. Manual plunging during this period ensures optimal colour extraction. After five days the tanks are closed and allowed to macerate for a further period, normally 10-14 days. Pressing follows and the wine is transferred to barrel for the secondary fermentation. On completion a final quality check and analysis is performed and the Reserve is then prepared for barrel ageing. Bottling is followed by hand labelling and further bottle maturation.
Name - Christo le Riche
Winery
The bespoke winery was initially operated from Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch, in an old cellar that needed considerable renovation. With great attention to detail, Etienne carefully updated the space, and production started. During this time, he also established the business model for Le Riche, which continues to be sourcing the highest quality fruit from a close network of trusted grape growers. This gave him the freedom to focus on the winemaking side of the process, a decision Etienne made with intent.By 2010, Etienne had been joined by his children, Yvonne and Christo, to assist in the growing business. One of their first tasks was identifying a new home for Le Riche wines, which eventually became their own property in the lower Helderberg region where the cellar is based today.
With the freedom to build their cellar from scratch, the winery design was influenced by the previous cellar in Jonkershoek, ensuring consistency of wine style. With traditional open-top concrete fermentation tanks and a minimum intervention winemaking approach, the winery provides a platform to create ultra-premium red wines in a classic South African style. The first vintage from the new cellar was released in 2014.
Today, Le Riche is managed by four core members, consisting of Cellarmaster Christo le Riche, Cape Wine Master Yvonne le Riche, Commercial Manager Francois le Riche and Assistant Winemaker Mark Daniels. While founder Etienne le Riche is now retired, he still acts in an advisory role, ensuring the winery continues the pursuit of expressing the finest Cabernet possible.
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