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At DE TOREN we never rest on our laurels.

Each varietal from every vintage is bottled separately and kept in our vinoteque at the optimal storage conditions, making sure that the work we do every year is not only preserved for years to come, but is also for us to track the aging potential of single varietals and the finished product.  These wines are to be tasted and evaluated at regular intervals.

By analysing and recording how each varietal’s flavour profile changes as it ages it allows us to make minor modifications, both in the vineyard and the cellar, to enhance the complexity and the balance of the final blend and build on the quality year on year.

 

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For each DE TOREN vintage, the selection of the final blend requires a process as unique as the making of the wine itself. The process comprises of a series of tasting panels made up of consumers, retailers, experts and winemakers. It is not the Cellar Master that has to drink the wine; therefore the consumer’s input in the final blend is important to us. These panels will eventually help decide the final selection.

At each stage different blends are made up and presented – blind of course – and the participants are asked to identify their favourite. Slowly but surely, the pretenders fall away, leaving the Cellar Master, Albie Koch, and the Custodian, Emil Den Dulk, to make the final selection.

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DE TOREN strive to be a carbon neutral producer – this means that we consume as much CO2 as what we generate, resulting in a zero omission entering the atmosphere.

Minimal machinery is used to reduce the carbon footprint, and all manner of natural practices; including the planting of indigenous ‘Spekbome’ (pictured above) around the vineyards (for their ability to consume huge amounts of CO2).

Even the cellar’s effluent water is recycled and used to manufacture compost, which is then re-introduced back into the vineyard. This maintains a healthy and sustainable ratio of fungi to bacteria within the soil, increasing fertility and healthy microbial living and minimizing diseases and pests.

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Our “Berry Sugar Loading” project was chaired by Professor Alan Deloire from the University of Stellenbosch. The objective was to help us identify and map the different taste profiles created by berries in their different stages of ripeness. We conducted tastings of wine samples taken from our Merlot block, with the berries of each sample having been picked at a different level of maturity. Distinct flavour profiles were identified for each level of maturity and this then provided us with an indication of when to harvest our grapes. This could mean that different blocks can be harvested at different sugar loading stages to enhance complexity.

DE TOREN Winemaker, Charles Williams, has started his Master’s thesis on Lateral Shoot Removal.

The purpose of this project is to better understand the effect of shoot removal; how it influences vigour and the berry’s composition in order to validate the merits of a late defoliation treatment. This research provides us with quantified analysis that helps us to improve our canopy management in future vintages.

Can South Africa produce a cult wine which would compete with the great wines of the world?

We believe so, but we quickly realized that we would have to be willing to give everything; without restriction, compromise or limitation, and put all of our research information to the test in order to deliver such a wine – so that’s exactly what we did.

In 2011 we produced our first limited release under the label BOOK XVII. The name is based on the writings of the Roman Philosopher, Pliny the Elder. In his book 17, chapter 35, he touches on why wines from certain areas are exceptional, and it was these principles that led us to this wine. BOOK XVII is represented by Expression Unique, a new global collection of boutique icon wines – www.expressionunique.com

In keeping with the traditional style, our Bordeaux blends show strong, complex and serious characters, but over the last three years we began to notice that certain pockets within the vineyards were producing lighter and softer flavours in the grape.

This phenomenon gives us the opportunity to create something different; and LA JEUNESSE DELICAT – a youthful, light red wine was born! A wine with attitude and depth to be served slightly chilled.

Each year, DE TOREN selects two of the top 3rd year students from Stellenbosch University to join us on the farm for 6 months of practical work experience.

Not merely ‘hands’ to assist in frivolous odd-jobs on the farm, these eager minds are given specific research topics relating to the vineyards and cellar; where they are given the opportunity to scientifically examine, test and determine a result using their unique skills.

All manner of topics are covered, including yield reduction principles, extreme viticulture practices, and the co-inoculation of yeast and malolacitc bacteria in wine.