Keermont Vineyards is a specialist wine estate set in a naturally-formed amphitheatre between the Helderberg and Stellenbosch Mountain ranges. Selecting the best fruit from several vineyard sites on the farm, we create a blend each year which is distinctive, unique, and portrays the character of our superb terroir. This blend is Keermont Amphitheatre. All grapes used in producing our wines are grown on Keermont Vineyards. The vineyards grow on deep red clay rich soil derived from sandstone and granite and are surrounded by indigenous mountain ‘fynbos’ vegetation. Aspects vary from North East through North to West facing between 250 and 400 meters above sea level. This variety of slopes gives us complexity in our vineyards resulting in complexity in our wines. Small batches of grapes are specifically selected according to ripeness, harvested by hand and vinified separately. This process is carried out gently and naturally in open top fermenters using traditional methods only. Keermont Amphitheatre 2016 spent 20 months maturing in seasoned French oak barriques (first, second, third fill) before being bottled by hand without filtration on 29 November 2017. The wine lay in bottle in our cellar for 5 years before release to ensure integration and maturity. 7500 bottles and 107 magnums were produced.

TASTING NOTE

Bright crimson red in the glass, although more opaque than dark. This wine opens with dusty, ripe strawberry aromas complimented by hints of baked pudding, vanilla, and sweet citrus blossom. The palate is tight and effortless, with a firm chalky tannin structure and an array of flavours: ripe plum and berries to savoury herbs and oak tannin. The finish is long and succulent with lingering cherry flavours and grippy tannin. Drink 2022-2035.

VINTAGE REPORT

2016 vintage was a challenging one for the vineyard team. It started with moderate Winter temperatures and below average rainfall. Spring came early and was also warm and dry, we had to start irrigating earlier than usual. The weather continued to warm up towards Christmas and we experienced average maximum temperatures of 30°C and 35°C for December and January respectively! Fortunately, we had some rain during December which pepped the vines up leading into the critical ‘veraison’ period, when the berries change colour and begin to ripen and enter a high water-demand period. With all of the hot, dry weather the grapes ripened quickly and we started picking earlier than ever before on 19 January. We processed 78 tons and 11 varieties over the next month. Fortunately we were able to get all of the grapes in with good analysis. Harvest ended as quickly as it had begun. By 19 February we had picked all of the grapes for Keermont wines.

BLOCKS

BLOCK	VARIETY	PLANTED	YIELD	%
Steepside	Merlot	1987	1.2 ton/Ha	10%
High Road	Merlot	2005	4.4 ton/Ha	9%
Cottage Lane	Cab Sauv	2006	4.8 ton/Ha	29%
High Road	Cab Franc	2007	4.6 ton/Ha	28%
Steepside	Petit Verdot	2005	4.5 ton/Ha	8%
Homestead	Malbec	2007	7.4 ton/Ha	16%

ANALYSIS

Alc: 14.0 % pH: 3.61 TA: 5.4 g/L RS: 2.0 g/L TSO2: 71 mg/L VA: 0.81 g/L

ACCOLADES

AMPHITHEATRE 17: 4 ½ stars PLATTER GUIDE AMPHITHEATRE 17: 93 pts TIM ATKIN (MW) AMPHITHEATRE 17: 91 pts NEAL MARTIN (VINOUS) AMPHITHEATRE 16: 91 WINE SPECTATOR AMPHITHEATRE 16: 4 ½ stars PLATTER GUIDE AMPHITHEATRE 16: 94 pts TIM ATKIN (MW) AMPHITHEATRE 16: 94 pts NEAL MARTIN (VINOUS) AMPHITHEATRE 15: 95 pts NEAL MARTIN (VINOUS) AMPHITHEATRE 15: 93 pts TIM ATKIN (MW) AMPHITHEATRE 15: 90 pts CHRISTIAN EEDES (Wine Magazine) AMPHITHEATRE 15: 4 ½ stars PLATTER GUIDE

(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 particular technique to produce raisins in the vineyard, which gives the Fleurfontein its sweetness. We have started blending in vine-dried Roussanne for more complexity. Our vineyard team use pliers to pinch the stem of the bunches while they ripen on the vine, this pinching action stops the translocation of fluids from the vine to the grapes. This allows the fruit to dry naturally or desiccate on the vine, during the warm Summer. We do this pinching process when the grapes are at optimal ripeness in order to concentrate the juice, with the perfect balance of sugar and acidity. The raisins are harvested a few weeks later and the syrupy juice is squeezed from them with a hard pressing process. The grape syrup is slowly fermented by indigenous yeast in Hungarian and French oak barrels and then matured in these barrels for 18 months. Total production for this bottling was five barrels yielding 2566 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 2022 exudes aromas of dried apricot, litchi, and pineapple 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 grassy freshness. A central core of acidity gives the wine a long, complex, caramel finish. Drink now through to 2035.  

VINTAGE REPORT

2022 will go down as a very successful and plentiful vintage at Keermont. On paper it was a vintage of two halves. The first half of the season was very cool and wet. We recorded the wettest winter since starting to farm Keermont Vineyards in 2005! These conditions led to good growth in the early season, but also increased disease pressure. We had to work hard to keep up with the strong growth in order to keep all the vines trimmed and tucked in to ripen the crop ideally. By Christmas time we could see that we had a lovely looking crop of grapes ripening on the healthy green vines. After Christmas the weather changed completely and we had a hot and dry run into harvest. The grapes, which we thought were going to be harvested late, ripened quickly under healthy conditions. Harvest started on 1 February which is normal for us. The vineyards consistently delivered good yields and the winery tanks filled up quickly. We pressed our biggest vintage ever in the Keermont Winery: just over 90 tonnes of healthy, estate grown fruit!  

BLOCKS

Vineyard	Variety	Rootstock	Planted	Percentage in blend
Low Road	Sauvignon blanc	101-14Mgt	2005	85%
Riverside	Roussanne	R 110	2014	15%

ANALYSIS

Alc: 10.5 % pH: 3.72 TA: 6.6 g/L RS: 293.8 g/L TSO2: 184 mg/L VA: 1.60 g/L  

ACCOLADES

FLEURFONTEIN 21: 90 pts WINE SPECTATOR FLEURFONTEIN 21: 96 pts TIM ATKIN (MW) FLEURFONTEIN 21: 90 pts WINE SPECTATOR 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