2016 Constantia Glen FIVE
Technical data
A carefully crafted blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Cabernet Franc, 23% Merlot, 12% Petit Verdot and 6% Malbec, matured for 18 months in 70% new and 30% second-fill French
oak (225L) barrels. Following maturation, the wine only received a very light filtration before
making its way into bottle on 29 November 2017. With no fining agents used during the
production of this wine, a harmless sediment may occur during maturation in the bottle.
This wine will continue to develop admirably during bottle ageing, under ideal cellaring conditions for 10 to 15 years from vintage.
Alcohol: 14,5%
Residual sugar: 2,4 g/l
pH: 3,49
Titratable Acidity: 5,6 g/l
Volatile acidity: 0,61 g/l
Harvest summary by winemaker, Justin van Wyk
With a dry growing season leading up to the reasonable early 2016 harvest, and textbook ripening conditions, Constantia Glen managed to reap the fruits of another excellent vintage. Countrywide the 2016 harvest is known as one riddled by drought as a result of lower rainfall throughout 2015, but with our cool climatic conditions high up against the Constantia Mountains, the drier conditions worked in our favour by promoting reproductive growth of our vines. The dry and slightly warmer-than-usual season resulted in smaller berries with increased flavour concentration. Vegetative growth of the canopies was more regulated than usual, allowing for better sunlight penetration and air movement in the bunch zone to ensure excellent conditions for the ripening of healthy grapes.
Harvest was roughly 2 weeks earlier than we normally experience, with the first Merlot coming off the vines on 7 March 2016. It was an action-packed vintage with the Bordeaux varieties all ripening in quick succession. The last block of the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked and processed in the winery on 8 April 2016, bringing a close to the harvest at a similar time to the previous, also slightly warmer vintage. The combination of all these factors resulted in red wines with very good texture, concentration of ripe-fruit flavours and refreshing, crunchy tannins.
Colour
Youthful in colour with a very dark magenta core unwinding into a bright and lively garnet rim.
Nose
The 2016 FIVE confidently opens with concentrated aromas of ripe blackcurrant, juicy plums and fragrant dried herbs. This first impression shows bold, dark fruit, but with time to breathe, the wine unfurls into a multitude of layers. Graphite and pencil shaving aromas start emerging from the glass, and finally as the whirling liquid comes to rest; the bouquet closes with hints of violet, cassis and wild fynbos florae.
Palate
The palate has a dramatic entry as one consumes the concentrated dark fruit flavours that were evident on the nose. The textbook ripening conditions of the vintage combined with meticulous attention to extraction- and maturation methods in the cellar, have led to a compellingly structured wine with excellent freshness and depth. The palate displays great balance between refinement and power, as the delicious fine-grain tannins provide a structured backbone and incredible mouth-coating texture. The vibrant acidity offers freshness and a long, lingering finish that will have you beckoning for another sip.