Sakkie Mouton, The Grape Cavalier 2023

Sakkie Mouton, The Grape Cavalier 2023Full bottle 1,364 g. 60% Colombard from a vineyard planted in 1985 and 40% Palomino from a vineyard planted in 1962 both vineyards 25 km from the Atlantic Ocean, both on sandy silt. Grapes were picked early in the morning, then cooled for 24 hours. Destemmed, pressed in an old basket press where they were also foot pressed. Spontaneous fermentation in an old 500 litre barrel. Fermentation lasted for about three weeks with a cooling jacket fixed to the

Full bottle 1,364 g. 60% Colombard from a vineyard planted in 1985 and 40% Palomino from a vineyard planted in 1962 – both vineyards 25 km from the Atlantic Ocean, both on sandy silt. Grapes were picked early in the morning, then cooled for 24 hours. Destemmed, pressed in an old basket press where they were also foot pressed. Spontaneous fermentation in an old 500-litre barrel. Fermentation lasted for about three weeks with a cooling jacket fixed to the barrel to keep the temperature at a steady 18 C. Aged for eight months on gross lees before bottling unfined and unfiltered. No malo. Low added sulphites only before bottling. I almost forgot to taste this wine because I got so lost in the nose – remarkably complex. Acacia flowers, fennel pollen, rain on white dust and white dust on grapefruit flowers. It smells almost hazy with fragrance, and yet, one sip and the wine almost shatters with crystalline purity, clarity and angularity. The fruit on this is startlingly bright! Piercing acidity that is, at the same time, sweet with citrine intensity and ripeness. And energy that feels as if the wine comes with its own electric force field. Long, insistent finish of grapefruit and slate. So long. Jancisrobinson.com (17.5)