2025 | Elgin 

This wine is available in our online shop to Bacchanalian Wine Club members only - don't miss out, join now for free!

Semillon is one of the Cape’s true heritage varietals, with origins as early
as the 17th century (so wildly planted in the 1800s it become known as “Groen druif”
which translates to Green Grape). Currently, this varietal only accounts for about
2% of the total vineyard plantings in South Africa. Working with this varietal is a
true Revelation.

Old gold with a light green hued rim. Fresh spring blossom, honeysuckle, ripe melon and golden delicious apples are prominent on the nose. A balanced acidity supports restrained green peach and winter melon fruit expression. Enduring length and persistence lead to a cleansing mineral finish.

IN THE VINEYARD

The grapes for this wine come from two blocks on the farm. This first is a high-density block that was planted in 2009 and the second block was planted in 2016. The 2024 winter weather didn't align with long-term averages, but it still provided ample cold accumulation and rainfall, surpassing the needs of the vineyard. Budding and dormancy break was late but even and pushed through the slightly colder spring seasons. The rain in December created some disease pressure for the white varietals. Drier conditions grew until late February, ensuring good grape potential and ripening.

 WINEMAKING

The grapes were all hand-picked early morning to capture freshness and acidity while retaining elegance in the flavour expression. The bunches were brought into our Organic cellar and hand-fed over a sorting table. The bunches were destemmed into the press and stayed for a 24-hour cold soak on the skins before pressing. After pressing the juice was moved to barrels for fermentation. The alcoholic fermentation was entirely carried out in barrel (only using natural ambient yeast). The wine was then racked out of barrel after 10 months on the lees, assembled and settled before bottling.