Description
Holden Manz Reserve Cabernet Franc 2023 is a Franschhoek red built in a serious, cellar-minded style, where varietal character, structure, and restraint all matter. Cabernet Franc can often lean either too herbal or too soft, but this wine finds a more compelling middle ground, combining dark fruit, floral lift, savory detail, and a firm but polished frame. It is a wine for drinkers who appreciate reds with perfume, tension, and long-term potential rather than sheer weight alone.
The nose opens with blackberry, raspberry leaf, and a touch of lavender, followed by cassis, red fruit, and a faint tarragon note that gives the wine extra lift and complexity. On the palate, it is rich and expressive, with integrated oak, savory spice, and a refined mineral finish bringing shape and persistence. There is both volume and control here, with the fruit held neatly in place by the wine’s structure. It would pair especially well with duck, lamb, veal, or mushroom-based dishes, where its dark fruit, herbal detail, and polished tannins can settle naturally into the food.
Already highly impressive, this is a Cabernet Franc with the balance and framework to evolve beautifully over time, making it an especially strong choice for the cellar.
The nose opens with blackberry, raspberry leaf, and a touch of lavender, followed by cassis, red fruit, and a faint tarragon note that gives the wine extra lift and complexity. On the palate, it is rich and expressive, with integrated oak, savory spice, and a refined mineral finish bringing shape and persistence. There is both volume and control here, with the fruit held neatly in place by the wine’s structure. It would pair especially well with duck, lamb, veal, or mushroom-based dishes, where its dark fruit, herbal detail, and polished tannins can settle naturally into the food.
Already highly impressive, this is a Cabernet Franc with the balance and framework to evolve beautifully over time, making it an especially strong choice for the cellar.
The fruit was hand-harvested and berry-sorted before a five-day cold soak to draw out purity and finesse. Fermentation proceeded slowly with wild yeast in a combination of stainless steel and 60% new French oak barrels, a regime that supports both aromatic complexity and structure.
Only the finest free-run juice and selected press fractions were used, and the wine then matured for 22 months before bottling, giving it the layered texture, integrated oak, and aging potential seen in the finished wine.
Winemaker: Thierry Haberer
Only the finest free-run juice and selected press fractions were used, and the wine then matured for 22 months before bottling, giving it the layered texture, integrated oak, and aging potential seen in the finished wine.
Winemaker: Thierry Haberer
Located in the top, southern-most corner of the Franschhoek Valley, in the embrace of its spectacular mountains, the 22 hectare Holden Manz Wine Estate is situated between the Franschhoek River and Stony Brook at 300 meters above sea level. An exclusive grower of red grapes, the Estate only cultivates its top 16 hectares under vineyards, notably Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Merlot resulting in the production of ultra-premium wines made for the discerning wine connoisseur.
