60% Grenache and 40% Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa; 25 days on skins before being basket pressed, medium bodied and dry, with beeswax, underripe white peach, lemon cream, orange blossoms, hints of guava, tropical fruit, and vanilla, with medium acid and a cloudy appearance with some debris. As it warms up it gets better and even busier, with more cream, nuts, and some herbs. Organic, Sustainable, Vegan, and very limited. 

Grenache blanc – Semi-Arid Klein Karoo region, close to Meiringspoort’s rocky Schist hills. Younger vines, 2011 planted, with roots in shale and schist derived soils. This area experiences drought and harsh times like non other, making the flavor development more intense and earlier present.

Chenin blanc - Decomposed granite sandier soil on mother rock granite. Stellenbosch bush vines (46y old).

In the cellar creativity with natural winemaking spices things up. GB Grapes were treated as a semi-carbonic fermentation (whole bunches) in an inert fermentation vessel for 2 weeks. After fermentation the Grenache blanc was manually basket pressed, separating the skins and stems from the wine. This wine then goes onto Chenin blanc fermented skins in another vessel for some extra extraction and slightly stirred to soak. Basket pressed again and into old French oak 225L barrels where it was aged on its lees for 6 months before bottling (unfiltered and unfined). 35% of this Chenin blanc was aged under flor. Blended with the other portions a few days before bottling. No additives throughout the making, only trace amounts of sulphur added before bottling to aid with oxygen vulnerable hand bottling . The wine is stable dry fermented and malolactic fermentation has finished before bottling. The straight Chenin portion was fermented on its destemmed skins for 4 weeks.