Winemaker Notes
This classic Stellenbosch Cabernet is comprised of various parcels from the slopes of Glenelly. Youthful, leafy and very pure, with blackcurrant Pastille fruit, tangy acidity and the fine tannins that are the hallmark of the Glass Collection wines.
Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fresh and aromatic with chopped herbs, currants and fresh blackberries on the nose. It’s so balanced and bright, with a medium body and nicely integrated tannins. Delicious cab. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In a screw-cap bottle, the Glenelly 2021 Stellenbosch Glass Collection Cabernet Sauvignon is mostly estate fruit with a tiny part that is purchased off the property. The wine takes a few moments before coming into focus, and once it does, it shows dark fruit, black pepper and concentration. These lead to chalky tannins and firm structure from a vintage with slightly cooler temperatures to enhance freshness and firmness in the wines.
The Glenelly property gets great tannic structure, and some 40% of the farm is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. Careful work is done in the winery to cool down the fermentations and limit extraction times to the first half of the fermentation. Fruit is destemmed and left on the skins for two to three weeks, with two pump-overs per day. They use shallow tanks to avoid having massively thick caps.
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Wine Enthusiast
Spices and eucalyptus on the nose introduce a flavorful palate of dense black fruit, paprika and leafy notes. This Cabernet is enjoyable and easygoing.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.