Happy half century at Uitkyk
Carlonet, originally a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Hermitage (Cinsaut), is celebrating 50 years of production at Uitkyk and its winemaker, Estelle Lourens, has released a special 50th anniversary bottling of the 2007 vintage; a rich, sumptuous wine dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon with the inclusion of 12% Shiraz.
Lourens believes that George von Carlowitz, whose father, a German nobleman, had planted Uitkyk to Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Hermitage on the advice of renowned viticulturist Prof Izak Perold, was making the blend as far back as 1949 but records show that Carlonet was only registered as a trademark in 1957.
She says that for a short period, in the late 1990s, the wine was no longer marketed as Carlonet but as Cabernet Sauvignon in line with the emerging practice of labelling wine according to varietal. In 2001, though, the name Carlonet was brought back by popular demand.
