Cape Ruby

Grape varieties: A blend of typical Calitzdorp Portuguese varieties.

Winemaker observations

Colour: Ruby red.

Bouquet: Rich, berry & plum fruit aromas.

Taste: A juicy, vibrant fortified wine with lots of berry flavours and spice.

Food pairing:

This wine will continue to evolve in the bottle for a few years, but is best enjoyed in its youth. Pair with game boerewors around the braai for an unusual twist, or stay traditional and enjoy with good cheddar or a bitter/sweet dessert like chocolate brownies. Chill for 30 minutes before opening. Consume within 5 days for optimum flavours.

Winemaking

Fruit from the Wesoewer blocks used for the ruby port is normally harvested during the course of February, with sugar levels at around 24ᴼ+ Balling. Different blocks may be harvested & vinified separately and blended later, or co-fermented with each other, depending on individual section ripeness.

Hand harvest & sorting starts early in the morning to ensure grapes arrive at the cellar as cool as possible. Grapes are crushed into open concrete lagares, aka “kuipe”, which provide excellent thermodynamic stability for even temperature fermentation. Port grapes are generally cold-soaked for a day, and foot treading may be undertaken, although less so for a ruby style. Thereafter, regular punch downs and or pump overs ensure optimal results for the fermentation, which lasts around 4 days. The fermenting wine is racked to the tank, skins pressed and the press fraction added to the tank for fortification. Once the desired level of fermentation has taken place, the wine is fortified with unaged brandy spirits. This process stops the fermentation and ensures the final level of sugar & alcohol is achieved.

The resulting fortified wine is allowed to settle and then racked to a barrel or tank for ageing.

Ruby is a less extractive wine, resulting in a typically lighter style, designed for early accessibility. Ruby port should be aged in any vessel for not less than 6 months. Although our Cape Ruby will do very well with further bottle ageing, it is made for early enjoyment – a lighter fortified wine for every day. In fact, this ruby is a vintage ruby from 2022 and made in the typical Axe Hill style, although lighter in character.

After bottling, the wine undergoes a few months of further ageing in our cellar before it is ready for the market!