Villain Vines Carignan

Carignan is often used for blending but this single variety can stand its ground against oven roasted rack of lamb or seared tuna with a peppercorn crust.

Harvested from a 47 year old block of dryland Carignan – the Carignan vines were slipped in with imported Shiraz vines – not knowing how to use them, they were planted in a corner to the Shiraz vineyard – long forgotten but slipped in as a villain in the Voor Paardeberg. Now, this villain delivers a great fruit expression of terroir and a true reflection of the excellent conditions in the Voor Paardeberg for this variety.

16 months barrel maturation in larger second fill French oak barrels. Minimal intervention allows for a true expression of the grape

Grapes are picked between 24-25 balling. 32% of it is whole bunch fermented and the rest crushed into open tank for 8 days skin contact with manual punch downs. Soft basket pressing allows gentle extraction of dense dark flavours.

Think of it this way: many many thousands of moons, ago – the best wines of the past were made by normal craftsmen going out into the forest and picking wild berries - grapes and vinifying some of the most precious art the world has ever seen or drunk. Are we not overthinking or overcomplicating wine so very often? Inspired by those winemakers of the distant past and looking at the future of the South African wine industry and her renegade young guns receiving great international recognition, we decided to put our art into small bespoke batches of ArtiSons wines, each uniquely sculpted true to nature and true to vine.