We are excited to introduce the latest vintage from Jeanine and Mick Craven.

These wines are all out of Stellenbosch, celebrating small pockets of unique plantings. Each is a single varietal, single vineyard, focussing on the fruit and the terroir alone.

The Craven style is “attentively hands off”, bringing a fresh approach to the traditional areas of Polkadraai Hills, Lower Helderberg and Devon Valley in Stellenbosch.

Not what you’d expect from a Stellenbosch wine! Mick says about this wine, “…After looking around for a suitable vineyard, we decided we wanted to stay in the Polkadraai Hills for this. We love what the area brings to white wines, a real inherent saltiness and freshness.”

100% Chardonnay W.O Stellenbosch
Vineyard: Bluegum Grove
Planting Year: 2005
Grown by: Danie Carinus
Soil: Granite and sand
Alcohol: 11.67%
pH: 3.25
Total Acidity: 6.25 g/L

Christian Eedes (Winemag): “White peach, citrus and apple on the nose while the palate has good fruit definition and bright acidity – a little more roundness and weight than usual. 91pt.“

Mick shares some details about this wine, “Chenin Blanc is a variety that we have always wanted to work with but were waiting for the right vineyard to come along. Towards the end of 2015, we came across a beautiful site up on the Polkadraai Hills. This faux-bushvine vineyard had been farmed for sweet wine production, and the farmer was happy that a few us were excited to make some dry wine out of it! A little bit of TLC and we had a special block on our hands.”

“We whole-bunch press this wine to a concrete tank, where it is left to ferment naturally. We let the wine complete malolactic fermentation and stabilise itself, and the wine is then left on the lees for around 4 months before its first racking. It spends a total of 9 months in barrel before bottling.”

100% Chenin Blanc W.O Stellenbosch
Vineyard: Karibib
Planting Year: 1981
Grown by: Jozua Joubert
Soil: Weathered granite
Alcohol: 13.10%
pH: 3.35
Total Acidity: 6.82 g/L

Christian Eedes (Winemag): “Top notes of honeysuckle and hay before yellow peach on the nose. The palate shows succulent fruit and moderate acidity with somelight grip to the finish. Has a pleasing honesty about it. 92pt.”

“…These grapes are from a great site in the ward Devon Valley. It is planted on a very rich, deep, red soil with a high clay content.

The grapes are left 100% whole bunch, and lightly stomped by foot to extract a little juice. Very gentle pumpovers are performed once or twice daily, as we want to minimise extraction and maintain as many whole bunches as possible. 2022 was pressed off after 10 days on skins into old puncheons for 10 months.

100% Syrah W.O Stellenbosch
Vineyard: The Firs
Planting Year: 2000
Grown by: Deon Joubert
Soil: Deep red clay soils
Alcohol: 13.10%
pH: 3.65
Total Acidity: 5.05 g/L

Christian Eedes (Winemag): “Enticing aromatics of lavender and violets before red and black berries with a hint of fynbos in the background. Great fruit purity, bright acidity and fine, velvety tannins. Dense but certainly not too opulent, this vintage is poised and drinks effortlessly. 96pts“

The King! A variety we never thought we would entertain making until a lovely little site on the Karibib farm showed itself to us. During ripening it just had lovely flavours at a relatively low sugar level. So we made a spur-of-the-minute decision to pick a little bit and make our first Cabernet. Going against what is considered ‘standard operating procedure’, we fermented the grapes with a good percentage of whole bunch (75%) with the remaining destemmed on top.

We love the tannin structure and aromatics the whole bunches can give to a wine and feel it works well with Cabernet. We pressed the grapes a little earlier than complete dryness to make sure the tannins didn’t get to aggressive and finished fermentation in tank. The wine was then matured in neutral 300L barrels for 12 months before bottling.

100% Cabernet Sauvignon W.O Stellenbosch
Vineyard: Karibib
Planting Year: 1999
Grown by: Jozua Joubert
Soil: Decomposed granite and clay
Alcohol: 12.51%
pH: 3.65
Total Acidity: 5.12 g/L

Christian Eedes (Winemag): “Attractive aromatics of rose, red and black berries as well as fresh herbs while the palate is medium-bodied with good fruit definition, fresh acidity and fine tannins. Pure and harmonious, this has a compelling urgency about it. 93pts“