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De Toren Private Cellar is named
after the tower in the cellar. The tower is unique
in that all wine is moved by gravity by means of
this tower and this forms the centre of our wine
making philosophy. Situated in the Polkadraai Hills
in Stellenbosch, the winery is dedicated to the
five Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet
Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot .
De Toren Fusion V – a wine already
recognised as a Cape Classic – is the flagship of
the De Toren Private Cellar and is continually reaping
accolades from all over the world.
The development of this 25ha
farm has been based on careful planning and research.
After meticulous soil analysis the various cultivars
were matched to specific soil types, rootstocks
were selected to get the very best combination of
the soil types and cultivar and to amplify the complexity,
thirteen different clones were planted over the
5 varieties. During harvest, bunch selection is
done in the vineyards, “If you wouldn’t want to
eat it, don’t pick it,” is the rule proprietor Emil
den Dulk has the pickers follow, all part of a philosophy
that ensures that ideal grapes arrive at the innovative
cellar, where a hand sorting table and single berry
sorting also awaits. Emil oversees this process
and follows the strict policy of “If in doubt, throw
it out”.
The impressive cellar is in turn
custom-built for the red blends that De Toren specialises
in, and it is here that the tower containing an
innovative lift shaft makes the difference. In order
to preserve the essence of the quality fruit that
comes in from the vineyard via soft handling, winemaker
Albie Koch has banned all pumps in the cellar resulting
in a tower encasing an innovative lift that ensures
that the wine moves through the cellar via the gentle
forces of gravity.
De Toren Private Cellar was rated
as one of the 20 best new wineries in the world-
Food and Wine Magazine USA, November 2004
www.de-toren.com
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