Every now and then you come across a vineyard that sparks inspiration to do something completely different than what you’ve been ‘trained’ to do and have been comfortable making. This is exactly what happened during the particular mission when Trizanne came across the Sondagskloof Ward, close to Stanford. The viticulturist knew of Trizanne’s admiration and history with Sauvignon Blanc. He rang her to see if she was interested in the fruit and the immediate response was ‘why do I need another Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah?’ As the vineyard is on the way to Elim from her house, Trizanne popped by and was truly mesmerized by the site. It is biodynamically dry-farmed and in a very cool pocketed valley. Wanting to bring a different expression of the grape to the lineup, she decided to get a bit adventurous and make this wine as she would make a red wine.

The grapes were handpicked and half the lot was naturally skin fermented in an open top stainless steel tank with daily punch downs until it went dry (13 days) after which it was basket pressed and racked to a single new, ceramic fired, 500L French oak tonneau. The remaining 50% was whole bunched pressed and fermented with full solids in an older French cask. Both parcels were blended after six months in wood and racked back to barrel for a further 10 months of maturation. Bottling took place in Dec 2021 with a sheet filtration (no fining) and touch of sulfur at bottling.