South Africa: New releases

This comes from a vineyard in Wellington, planted on a hill overlooking a farm called Twyfeling. Pieter was chatting to his mum, and she mentioned that her ancestors had owned this Wellington farm: it was purely by accident that Pieter was now buying grapes from it, and the neighbouring hillsides. So the label shows the hill overlooking seven generations of the Hauptfleisch family - Pieter’s mum’s maiden name. The resulting wine is textured and very impressive, with lots of leesy complexity, and very saline finish. Delicious.

The 2019 Semillon comes from three sites in Franschhoek, from vines planted in 1902, 1936 and 1942. It’s so complex and fresh, with a hint of orange blossom from 3% Muscat from 1902 planted vines. There’s incredible texture here, and a sea-spray tinged finish that lasts an age. Incredible.

A small parcel of this, the single vineyard Chenin Blanc from the outstanding 2017 vintage, has been made available to us. It was planted in 1971, and this is in such a lovely place right now. Textured, lifted, and incredibly fine-boned, this is a stunning Chenin Blanc.

The 2020 Phoenix Chenin Blanc comes from a single old vine, organically-farmed vineyard in Paarl, planted with bush Chenin Blanc vines. 70% was vinified in tank, with 30% in barrel (the barrel component was aged at Radford Dale while Sam’s cellar was rebuilt, and hence the wine isn’t labelled organic - Radford Dale isn’t organic). The wine is brilliant. Focussed and textured, with real vibrant energy and an incredibly long finish, it’s not to be missed. 

2021 is the maiden vintage of Bartàs from exciting young winemakers Pauline Roux and Paul Jourdaan of Paulus Wine Company. Floral, with classic Stellenbosch yellow fruit, the Bartàs is a Chenin brimming with intensity and texture. Fruit is sourced from the Rustenhof farm in Stellenbosch where granite soils and a maritime influence from the nearby False Bay lend the wine salinity and a spectacular mineral character. Bright, long, and utterly delicious, this is one to follow from the very beginning.

The 2021 Grenache Blanc, sourced from vines grown on the famed granite soils of the Voor Paardeber, is another magnificent effort from winemaker Chris Williams. Displaying pithy citrus fruit and a round, enveloping texture, it's an incredibly well-balanced and fine-boned wine. 2021 was a brilliant white wine vintage across the Cape, and this is consistently one of the best value wines in our range. Not to be missed.

Arguably our favourite Roussanne from the Cape. It comes from the Voor Paardeberg, and is surprisingly deep in colour. Aged half in terracotta and half in older oak, this is all about grip and tension rather than oiliness. Just such a complex, delicious wine.

From a vineyard planted in 1957 on the Klein Heldererg, just 2,900 bottles were made. There's lots of tension here, and very vibrant fruit shining through. Notes of yellow plum and citrus, and a long, fine-boned finish. Delicious.

From a vineyard in Paarl planted in 1956, yields from here are absolutely miniscule. There's pure peach on the nose, with plenty of citrus lift and a beautifully textured palate. A lovely addition to our range.