After nearly a decade as cellarmaster of an elite Paarl based estate and creating award-winning wines, acclaimed South African winemaker Arco Laarman ventured out and created Laarman Wines to further his passion for the art of winemaking.
Laarman Wines has unveiled the maiden vintage of its premium Focal Point collection, with the release of the Focal Point Chardonnay and Focal Point Cinsault, both from the 2017 vintage.
The ethos behind the Focal Point range is to express the unique character of specific vineyard sites, showcasing the depth and variety of the Western Cape’s terroir.
The Cluster Series, Laarman’s maiden brand release, pays tribute to the spirit of collaboration that has defined and inspired him over his 20-year career in the South African wine industry. Being a freestanding brand not tied to a particular estate allows him to source grapes from a variety of regions, taking the strengths of each specifically chosen vineyard into account. This creates freedom to be able to cherry-pick grapes from a range of unique wine-growing regions and terroir.
This cinsault originates from the Paarl region as this variety is well suited to the warmer climate. 50% of the wine was whole cluster fermented and the balance of the
grapes was destemmed before fermentation. There were three pump-overs a day and some punch-downs for ten days until alcoholic fermentation was completed. Before bottling, the wine was racked off the heavy lees and sent to 400L old oak for 11 months.