Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Rosé

The Franschhoek Valley, about an hour from Cape Town, has always been a wild place. From the very beginning, when the Dutch settlers arrived in this area, they encountered different native animals, like the leopard, which today (300 years later), continues to live alongside them. This climate is the perfect breeding ground for legends and fables that have stood the test of time and are still told today. In Boekenhoutskloof, one of the wineries in the area, a wolf trap was found, although so far there has been no evidence of wolves roaming the area. This story is what the Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Rosé is named after.

Boekenhoutskloof is one of the wineries that has contributed the most to the development of the wine industry in this region of South Africa in general, and in the Swartland district in particular. For years, hardly anyone knew about this area but now, over time, it has become the birthplace of some of South Africa’s finest wines. In particular Boekenhoutskloof, with Marc Kent at the helm (as technical director and managing partner), has been an active and founding member of various entities like the Swartland Revolution, the Swartland Independent Producers Association, the Franschhoek Wine Valley Tourism association or the Franschhoek Vignerons association.

Today, following a completely organic philosophy, they take great care over the more than 100 hectares that make up part of this estate which was founded in 1776 and named after a native tree that is highly prized for making furniture. This purchase, which was made in 2009, is in response to the new vineyard planting programme that started in 1993, when the estate was purchased and revived with new varieties like Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Garnacha, Sémillon and Viognier.

In the winery, Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Rosé is vinified using the saignée method, where the must is obtained using the weight of the grapes themselves (without exerting strong pressure). This process begins with the destemmed and crushed red grapes in contact with the skins before fermentation. This maceration, using low temperatures to prevent the yeasts from starting to work, lasts for more or less time depending on the intensity of the colour they want to extract. With the Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Rosé the Cinsault, Syrah and Garnacha this process lasts two hours. Once this time has passed, the next step is to obtain the must. The grapes are not pressed, instead the must will be left to drop by gravity (this is known as bleeding). And from here Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Rosé will follow the path of a young white: racking, fermentation in stainless steel tanks, sterile filtration and bottling.

As the writer and essayist Salman Rushdie says “Legends sometimes make reality, and become more useful than the facts”. There is nothing better than a glass of Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Rosé to imagine what is real.