Grenache 2022

This Grenache Noir comes from five plots scattered across the Swartland, with its heart located on the slopes of Paardeberg, the decomposed granite mountain that gives the estate's wines their saline and mineral signature. Nadia Sadie, a trained pedologist, intimately knows each of these soils — approximately 60% granite, 30% schist, and a handful of complementary terroirs. The 2022 vintage tested the winemakers with significant water stress, pushing the couple to harvest early and reserve the best grapes for this cuvée. Twelve harvest passes were necessary to pick each plot at just the right moment. The vinification is done with 60% whole clusters, a gentle maceration of three to five weeks with a single daily punch-down, then aging split between concrete tanks and used 500-liter French oak barrels, so as never to mask the fruit. This wine reveals notes of wild strawberry, red cherry, pomegranate, rosehip, rosemary, and orange peel. The palate is light and vibrant, supported by fine tannins and frank acidity. The finish is saline, spicy, and remarkably persistent.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, though wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of the French Protestants in the 1680s with their viticultural skills and knowledge. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards planted there in the 1690s. Today South Africa is one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most important wine producing countries. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old World and the New World. The majority of the wines are made using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has enjoyed international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles. The South African wine industry is spread across the lush, rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys, and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. There are also vineyards in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa’s wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, which is heavily influenced by the convergence of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country’s signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut which is rarely found in quantity in other wine producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often blended together in a Bordeaux-style blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin, and Sauvignon Blanc have become internationally popular in recent years.