The family-run Springfield Estate is located in the mountain-ringed Robertson Valley in the Western Cape. The Bruwer family are fourth-generation wine farmers and ninth-generation descendants of the Bruères, French Huguenots who came to South Africa from the Loire in 1688 with bundles of vines under their arms. The estate is currently run by Abrie and his sister, Jeanette Bruwer.
The Springfield philosophy is to produce wine as naturally as possible. The winemaking process is kept direct and uncomplicated – the wine is left to make itself, as was done centuries ago.
Following their desire to produce a classic Bordeaux blend, the Bruwers planted Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot on carefully selected sites. 2001 was the maiden vintage. The grapes for this vintage were fermented whole with native yeasts and left for five weeks on their skins. A slow two years of barrel maturation followed and a further four years of bottle maturation. Appropriately named, The Work of Time is a blend of 32% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Petit Verdot.