Hogan Mirror for the Sun Cabernet Franc 2023

Hogan wines was started in 2014 and is a small, family-run business with Jocelyn Hogan Wilson as winemaker. Having a keen interest in botany, soil, wine, and the outdoors, Jocelyn enrolled at the University of Stellenbosch in 2001 to study a BSc degree in Viticulture & Oenology. After seven years of working for various wineries in the Cape and overseas, she decided to team up with her family (the Hogans and the Wilsons) to start Hogan Wines. Jocelyn is passionate about South African old vines and aims to produce elegant, site-specific wines through minimal intervention and gentle handling. They make their wines in the beautiful Banhoek Valley and source grapes from various regions of the Western Cape, selecting vineyards suited in terms of climate and soil to the varietals they make. Older vines are chosen, which tell the story of the vintage through their well-established root systems, gnarled trunks and lower yields. Through close relationships with the farmers, they continually work to gain an understanding of the nuances of each vineyard, an understanding that they believe is pivotal to making good wine.

Grapes for the ‘Mirror for the Sun’ are sourced from fourteen year old, trellised vines from the lower Helderberg on granitic soils. The vineyard is 2km from the coast. The maritime effect is most favourable, especially in the hot February to March months in Stellenbosch. The wine was matured in 225L older French oak barrels for nine months. It was sent thorough a rough filter before bottling in December 2023.