IN THE VINEYARDS

The old bush vines that make this individualistic Pinotage are rooted in unusual white clay at the foot  of the Helderberg Mountain. Unirrigated, these vines plunge their roots deep into the earth in search of moisture to sustain the ripening of grapes into the long dry summers of the Cape. In 2024 this vineyard turned 35 years old and as such the crop is small, but wonderfully concentrated which  allows for early picking.

IN THE CELLAR

The grapes were hand picked into small 20kg lug boxes and then hand sorted as with all Radford Dale grapes. A combination of whole bunch and whole berry fermentation took place in a 7000L oak vessel. This meant that during the fermentation a partial carbonic fermentation took place which helped to enhance the pure fruited nature of the wine, while ensuring a limited extraction of tannins. The wine was then lightly basket pressed and transferred by gravity to barrel for maturation. A particular focus during the vinification of this wine was to employ the most gentle, most traditional of techniques from harvesting to bottling.

Only large format (500L and 600L) barrels were employed to mature the wine. The focus being to  retain the wonderfully expressive, pure fruit while allowing for enhanced texture. Also, no new oak  was used in order for the fruit to shine.

THE NAME

Dr. Abraham Perold was the South African viticulturist and scientist who in 1925 germinated, at  Stellenbosch University, the Pinotage varietal by intermingling two species of grapes which, arguably, should never have been given life together : Pinot Noir & Cinsault. A century earlier, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, created an equally strange creature, also by stitching together different body parts from mismatched ‘donors’. The Radford Dale Frankenstein Pinotage is our nod to the work carried out in his laboratory by South Africa’s first professor of viticulture, Abraham Perold, and a wink to the creature he created.