
Technical Analysis
The life of Catharina Ras, Steenberg’s remarkable founder, was one of adventure, courage and resilience, Five Lives pays homage to her life in five chapters, with each one narrated in a series of back labels.
Tasting note
Steenberg Five Lives expresses an intense dark red hue with a lighter, garnet red on the rim. The nose displays prominently with blackcurrant cassis and notes of fennel, prune and cinnamon. It is a medium to full-bodied wine, showing a silky texture and depth, as well as an elegant tannin structure. Flavours of smooth blackberry jam lead into star anise and ground spice. The mid palate has a juicy cherry compote fruit profile with the acidity tempering a slight richness. Merlot (62%) forms the backbone of this wine with clean, bright fruit which add subtle freshness. The Cabernet Sauvignon (22% )brings a formal, earnest profile to the blend and the Malbec (16%) rounds it all off with fruit weight.
Vinification details
The three varietal portions for Steenberg Five Lives were vinified in stainless steel tanks. Prior to fermentation, 10-15% of the juice was drawn off the skins to aid body and fullness. The varietals were fermented separately, on the skins, for 14 days. Pump overs were done twice per day to extract colour and tannin. After fermentation and malolactic conversion they were separately racked into 4th fill and older small French oak barrels. The wine was aged for 22 months after which it was blended and a light fining was done before bottling in August 2022.

Technical Analysis
The life of Catharina Ras, Steenberg’s remarkable founder, was one of adventure, courage and resilience, Five Lives pays homage to her life in five chapters, with each one narrated in a series of back labels.
Tasting note
Steenberg Five Lives expresses an intense dark red hue with a lighter, garnet red on the rim. The nose displays prominently with blackcurrant cassis and notes of earth, basil and plum. A medium to full-bodied wine, showing silky texture, depth and elegant tannin structure. Savoury sundried tomato pesto, tobacco spice, cherry and cinnamon notes linger on the palate. The Merlot (76%) forms the backbone with clean, bright fruit which add subtle freshness. The Cabernet Sauvignon (24%) brings a formal, earnest profile to the blend.
Vinification details
The two varietal portions for Steenberg Five Lives were vinified in stainless steel tanks. Prior to fermentation, 10-15% of the juice was drawn off the skins to aid body and fullness. Both varietals were fermented separately, on the skins, for 14 days. Pump overs were done twice per day to extract colour and tannin. After fermentation they were separately racked into small French oak barrels Malolactic fermentation took place in barrel and the wine was aged for 20 months. The wine was then blended and a light fining was done before bottling.