(375ml)
The KEERMONT FLEURFONTEIN (‘flower fountain’) derives its name from a beautiful spring on the farm. The Sauvignon blanc vineyard from which grapes are sourced for this wine lies just below this spring. We use a distinctive technique to produce raisins in the vineyard which give the Fleurfontein its concentration and sweetness.
Raisins are produced by using a pair of pliers to pinch the stem of the bunches while they ripen on the vine. This pinching action stops the translocation of fluids into and out of the grapes, which then stops them from becoming over ripe. We do this when the grapes are at optimal ripeness in order to concentrate the juice with the perfect sugar to acid balance. The grapes dry out naturally during the warm summer and are harvested a few weeks later. The syrupy juice is squeezed from them with a hard pressing process. This is slowly fermented by indigenous yeast in Hungarian and French oak barrels and then matures in these barrels for about 15 months. Total production for this bottling was seven barrels yielding 3305 bottles. All grapes used in producing this wine were grown on Keermont Vineyards. Processing, maturation, and bottling were carried out by hand in our cellar.
TASTING NOTE
Yellow gold in colour, the Fleurfontein 2024 exudes aromas of dried apricot, litchi, and pine apple with hints of almond, vanilla and sweet spice. The palate is full and creamy with concentrated flavours of dried fruit, honey vanilla biscuit and a touch of curry spice. A central core of acidity gives the wine a long, complex, salted caramel finish. Drink now through to 2035.
VINTAGE REPORT
2024 will be remembered as a good vintage on Keermont, although yields were generally very low resulting in a small crop. We had a very cold and wet winter resulting in substantial flooding in the Cape. Fortunately, we didn’t sustain too much damage and the conditions were actually very beneficial to the vineyards.
The cool, wet weather led to slow budding. The young shoots are suspectable to attack over this period and damage can be caused by snails, Duiker (small buck), and baboons. Spring warmed up and the vines started to grow strongly. We had good rain showers during the early season to keep the vineyards going, although may have affected flowering leading to lighter bunches.
The middle of the season dried up and, from Christmas onwards, we experience several heatwaves. This dried the vineyards out quickly and led to some sunburn on exposed bunches. The light crop ripened quickly under the warm conditions and we started harvesting early (23 January). We quickly progressed through the different varieties and by the end of February, all of the grapes had been harvested except for the dried grapes for Fleurfontein.
Yields were down by about 30% on average, but despite fairly tough conditions in the late season, the vineyards looked healthy and balanced throughout the vintage. The grapes tasted amazing and had good analysis and I expect that we are going to have some beautifully intense wines.
BLOCKS
BLOCK |
VARIETY |
PLANTED |
% |
Low Road |
Sauvignon blanc |
2005 |
83% |
Riverside |
Roussanne |
2014 |
17% |
ANALYSIS
Alc: 11 %
pH: 3.41
TA: 7.0 g/L
RS: 253 g/L
TSO2: 149 mg/L
VA: 1.41 g/L
ACCOLADES
FLEURFONTEIN 23: 5 stars PLATTER'S GUIDE
FLEURFONTEIN 23: 95 pts NEAL MARTIN (Vinous)
FLEURFONTEIN 22: 4 ½ stars PLATTER'S GUIDE
FLEURFONTEIN 22: 95 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN 22: 94 pts NEAL MARTIN (Vinous)
FLEURFONTEIN 21: 90 pts WINE SPECTATOR
FLEURFONTEIN 21: 96 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN NV: 4 ½ stars PLATTER'S GUIDE
FLEURFONTEIN NV: 94 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN 19: 97 pts NEAL MARTIN (Vinous)
FLEURFONTEIN 19: 90 pts WINE SPECTATOR
FLEURFONTEIN 19: 93 pts WINE MAGAZINE
FLEURFONTEIN 19: 4 ½ stars PLATTER'S GUIDE
FLEURFONTEIN 18: 95 pts NEAL MARTIN (Vinous)
FLEURFONTEIN 18: 4 ½ stars PLATTER'S GUIDE
FLEURFONTEIN 18: 92pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN 17: 93pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN 17: 4 stars PLATTER'S GUIDE
FLEURFONTEIN 17: 93 pts NEAL MARTIN
FLEURFONTEIN 15: 95 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN 15: 94 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
FLEURFONTEIN 14: 94 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN 14: 94pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
FLEURFONTEIN 13: FIRST CLASS British Airways
FLEURFONTEIN 13: 16.5 pts JANCIS ROBINSON
FLEURFONTEIN 12: 91pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
FLEURFONTEIN 12: 94 ptsTIM ATKIN (MW)
FLEURFONTEIN 12: FIRST CLASS British Airways
FLEURFONTEIN 12: 4½ starsPLATTER GUIDE 2015
FLEURFONTEIN 10: 92 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
FLEURFONTEIN 10: 4 stars PLATTER GUIDE 2012