I received two bottles of the newly released Delheim Cabernet Sauvignon for Valentine’s day. I absolutely love a good Cab from Stellenbosch and was excited to try this one as it has been awarded Gold at Veritas 2021 and awarded 91 points by Master of Wine Tim Atkin.
The wine spent an average of 18 days on the skins and matured for 14 months in 300L French oak barrels, of which 45% were new.
This wine shows classic Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon characteristics on the nose with lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf and blackcurrant. These notes follow through on the palate as well as ripe red berries with fine tannins and a long finish.
The founding love story
It is perhaps a fitting metaphor for Delheim Estate’s own great love story – that of Spatz and Vera, founders of the estate’s Sperling legacy in Stellenbosch. Among their many contributions, the couple were co-founders of the Stellenbosch Wine Route, South Africa’s first of its kind, in 1971.
Vera still often tells the tale of how Spatz proposed marriage only two weeks after they’d met. He caught everyone off-guard, even Vera, by making the announcement at a small, informal gathering one afternoon in the gardens at Delheim. “When he’d told everyone we were to be married, he looked at me and said quietly, ’I hope you don’t mind!’,” Vera chuckles.
Spatz arrived in South Africa from Germany in 1951. At just 20-years-old, he’d signed up to help his uncle and aunt on their farm, Delheim. Over decades he got to understand the terroir of the farm and Simonsberg landscape, gradually refining the best sites and associated grape varieties.
“Delheim has been making wine for over 80 years and has understood the value of having a good foundation for not only for success but making world class wines. That foundation has been Cabernet Sauvignon,” says Roelof.
The first single variety Cabernet Sauvignon wine bottled under the Delheim name was produced in 1958. The vineyards that produce Delheim’s premium Cabernet Sauvignon at Vera Cruz were established by Spatz after he acquired the 80ha of prime red-wine land on Klapmutskop.
Further reflecting Delheim Estate’s commitment to the variety is its membership of the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective, a collaboration of select wineries to whom quality is paramount. Its premier aim is to establish international recognition for the world-class standard of Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon through rigorous peer review.
Buy Delheim Cabernet Sauvignon
The Delheim Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 sells for R250 and is available online from https://www.delheim.com/shop-online/, with free delivery on all orders over R1 200. The wine may also be found on winelists of leading restaurants and wine shops around the country.
For more information or direct wine orders contact Delheim Estate at tel: 021 888 4600 or email: info@delheim.com. Delheim is on Twitter and Facebook as @Delheim, and Instagram as @DelheimWines.
