Prestigious Family Wineries
Live Virtual Auction, 23 July 2023
Prestigious family wineries | Thelema Mountain Vineyards, Raats Family Wines and Savage Wines
About this Item
Specialising in Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, Raats Family Wines was established by Bruwer Raats at the turn of the millennium. He believes the secret to his Cabernet Francs success is that they are old vines grown on decomposed dolomite granite. This belief was not unfounded, as today, Raats Family Wines is regarded as a leader of South Africa’s Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, receiving consistent local and international accolades. Early vintages are elegant, refined and still remarkably young today.
The Eden High Density Single Vineyard is the heart of Raats Family Wines. The finest expression of Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, Eden High Density Single Vineyard wines, has globally achieved cult wine status.
The Eden High Density Single Vineyard Project originated from the deep passion for mastering Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. In 2004 Bruwer fell in love with a small piece of land in Polkadraai Hills Stellenbosch, called Eden, realising the potential of this tiny pocket of neglected pure decomposed dolomite granite. For four years, he worked tirelessly using site-specific techniques to restore the soil quality through conservation agriculture, integrated nutrient management and continuous vegetative cover to create optimal conditions conducive to creating ultra-premium wines. He then searched for the best low yielding clones to secure maximum flavour concentration and, in 2009, planted the first high density vineyard in South Africa. With 8 000 vines per hectare, he planted only 0,6 hectares of Chenin Blanc and 0,2 hectares of Cabernet Franc in the now revered Eden block. These vines are left to flourish with minimum intervention and a stringent selection process. The Eden vineyard was created with extreme precision viticulture as a key focus, and the results are clear.
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Critics Ratings
‘Star of an impressive line-up, 2018 is a masterclass in poise and balance: heft with grace, fruit with minerals, spice with perfume. Sweetly subtle stonefruit lightly brushed with oak (just 10% new), rounded by 11 months on lees. Shades also-great 2016 (4.5 stars, 94 pts). No 2017.’ - Platter’s SA Wine Guide 2020, 5* (95/100)
‘The yields were an exiguous two tons to the hectare in this densely planted single block in 2018, but there's no sense of over concentration or heaviness in the resulting wine. Lees aged for added texture and partially new oak fermented, this is elegant, bready and zesty, with satisfying, mouth-watering acidity and minerality. 2021-28.’ – Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2019, 95/100
‘The 2018 Edge High Density Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc is whole-bunch-pressed and transferred directly to barrel, where it matures for 11 months in 300-liter French barrels. It is backward, almost surly on the nose; the aromatics suggest this is a Chenin that demands cellaring. The palate is fresh and crisp, presenting lime zest, orange peel and light flinty notes that lend it an almost Chablis-like austerity toward the finish. A keeper, and one that will reward those with patience.’ - Neal Martin, Vinous, 93/100 (Oct 2019)
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