Following hot on the heels of the Platter ratings of Stars for 2007 De Toren "Z" and Stars for the 2007 Fusion V the DECANTER rating came in for Fusion V. (See Stars of South Africa)

This was followed by Fusion V being voted 2nd by consumers at the annual consumer wine show and the "Z" voted in the top 10 red wines in the country.

In January America made their feelings known via . Here De Toren "Z" was rated a best ever 92 points and a best ever for Fusion V at 93 points.
Here is what the editor had to say:

De Toren Fusion V 2007
93 points "Editor's Choice"

Cedar, blackberry, plum and dark chocolate aromas and flavors give this poised red blend a mysterious edge. Anise and pepper add a spicy kick, the whole package rolls out in one impressive, rich wave, ending with a spicy finish. An ageable wine with great character and poise. One of South Africa's best. Imported by Cape Classics.

De Toren Z 2007
92 points

This lush red starts with aromas of cinnamon, plum and pepper, leading into a balance of black fruit, fresh acidity, warming spices and smoke. Rich but balanced by lively lift, it's a great food wine that will pair well with robust meat dishes. Hold for more integration or enjoy now. Imported by Cape Classics.

These ratings from follows on the ratings of the 2006 vintage where both wines were rated 91 points. For us, contrary to consumer belief, "Z" is not a second wine, but a different styled wine, standing on its own!

We have very limited quantities of both wines left on the farm. CLICK here to go to the order form to get your stock before the other accolades are released.

Wild life still abounds at De Toren and we do our utmost to protect and enhance the life that is still about. All the animals you on the right have been photographed between January and February on the farm. We also have small buck, porcupine, geese, squirrels and eagles.

Rarely seen these days are the Cape Cobra. Unfortunately the vineyard workers kill any snake and it is difficult to stop this natural tendency.

We are in the process of building owl houses as well as planting long straight poles for eagles and falcons to sit on. (Their preferred perches.)

We have known for some time now that leaf roll virus showed increasing presence in one of our Cabernet Sauvignon blocks.

We decided 3 years ago to replant this block and actually removed the vines last year and dug over 65 profile holes to establish the soil structure and types. The norm is 4 holes per ha.

Google did us a great favour by photographing our block just after the vines have been removed and we dug the profile holes. The map below it shows 7 different soil types and 11 different soil potentials from 3.5 to 6.9 out of a scale of 10. The average being around 5.0. This analysis is just great because great grapes do not want to grow on very fertile soils.

We will be planting 4 out of our 5 varieties on this 6ha property and we will be implementing the latest vineyard technology.

Watch out in 2020 for some even more improved Fusion V from this block!

We have produced a limited quantity of the fabulous 2007 vintage of Fusion V in larger format bottles. Larger format bottles are often misunderstood as ornamental. Did you know:

• Wine in larger format bottles age better
• Wine in large format bottles are hand filled and hand corked
• At De Toren the labels are hand written and numbered.
• We only produce about 30 of each size, making it a real collector's items
• Many couples buy these wine as a gift to commemorate the birth of their children.
• Our biggest bottle is 9 litres and that equals 12 bottles of 750ml
• Each bottle comes packed in a beautiful black display box as in picture

Order your special bottle by CLICKING HERE

Part of long term sustainable farming:

DE TOREN and the SOIL FOOD WEB

Over the years undisciplined use of fertilizers and poisons have killed off many of the organisms and natural predators that keep our plants healthy. On top of this indiscriminate use of fertilizers and chemicals have changed the chemical composition and pH structures of the soils in our winegrowing regions. Latest soil analysis has showed just how badly the bad practices of the past have impacted on our soils.

Having recognized this De Toren has embarked on a process of getting life back into our soils

The process is very complex and difficult to put into a few words. Basically we are:

• Trying to retain the nutrients in our soils
• Establishing the right ratio of fungi to bacteria
• Building soil structure, so oxygen, water and other nutrients can easily move into the soil and into deep, well-structured root systems.
• Suppression of disease-causing organisms through competition with beneficial organisms.
• Protection of planting surfaces, by making certain the nutrients the plants release into the soil are used by beneficial organisms, not disease causing organisms
• Production of plant-growth-promoting hormones and chemicals

We started by adding back aerobic compost, compost tea or commercial inoculums. When next you visit ask us to point out our compost heaps and compost tea manufacturing facilities! This process is very complex and it will take quite a few years to get our soils into a natural healthy balance again.
Copyright 2009 Soil Foodweb Inc