The Antidote Gamay Noir (Stellenbosch)

The fruit for this wine comes from a single 21-year-old vineyard and is high up against a South-East facing slope overlooking the ocean. These vines grow in decomposed granite soil and benefit greatly from the South Easter sea breeze in summertime, cooling the entire vineyard. Gamay is extremely rare in South Africa and these grapes come from one of only a handful of vineyards in production, totalling less than 10 hectares.

We experienced relatively good rains preceding the 2019 harvest and the rainfall figures came close to the long term average for Stellenbosch. With more moisture in the soil, the vines showed strong, even budding in the Spring. The cool daytime conditions (and especially nights!) of December and January meant that our earlier varieties ripened with lovely acidity and great freshness, all at lower alcohol levels.

The grapes were all hand-picked at dawn to capture freshness and acidity while retaining elegance in the flavour expression. The bunches were hand sorted and a combination of whole bunch and whole berry carbonic maceration took place in a 7000L oak fermenter, using wild yeast only. This technique lifts the fruit and creates intensity, while remaining fresh and sprightly. We employed very light extraction, with the focus on creating lithe, supple texture. This complements the expressive fruit profile, while retaining depth and persistence. The berries were basket pressed to ensure only the purest liquid was extracted and the wine was then matured for 12 months in older (3 to 4-year-old) French oak barrels. Apart from a minute amount of sulphur added before bottling, there are no additives in this wine. It is also unfiltered and will naturally throw a deposit over time.