Our Springbok in Exploring the Wine Glass’s Cab Franc Day Spotlight
For Cabernet Franc Day 2024, Exploring the Wine Glass included Stiekema Wine Co. in its producer spotlight, and we’re thankful to have been part of it. The series celebrated producers who show that Cabernet Franc is far more than a blending grape.
The feature describes Stiekema as a one-man show, with Mike bringing more than 13 years in the wine industry, a BS in Viticulture & Enology and his South African heritage to small-batch wines, along with our slogan, “the manifested chaos of science and art.” You can read more about that on our About page.
Paso Robles Cab Franc from Creston
The spotlight focuses on our 2022 Springbok, a 100% Cabernet Franc from Irick Vineyards in the Creston district of Paso Robles, aged in French oak for 22 months. Our core has always been Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, but this grape was too good to pass up.
Behind the name
We especially appreciated how the article tells the story behind the name. The springbok is the agile South African antelope, whose name means “jumping buck,” and it is also the emblem of South Africa’s rugby team. After apartheid ended, Nelson Mandela wore the Springbok jersey at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final as a gesture of unity, and the symbol came to stand for pride, determination and spirit. That history is a big part of why Mike chose it.
The tasting notes describe a pale garnet wine with plum, cherry and sage on the nose, a dry palate with medium acidity and strong tannins, and Flavors of black currant, cherry, leather, and vanilla are bold and well-integrated
(Exploring the Wine Glass), leading to a long finish.
The review covers the 2022 vintage. Our current release is the 2023 Springbok, still 100% Cabernet Franc.
The author notes that they received a sample and a stipend for the Cab Franc Day series. Thank you for including us, and for the kind words about Ziah, too.
