Flabbergast Cinsault

Chicken Chasseur with rustic crusty-bread and green salad.

Harvested form a dryland farmed 25-year-old bush vines in Firgrove, Stellenbosch planted on deep granitic soils. The close proximity to the cold Atlantic Ocean ensures slow ripening. Sustained winds control the vigour resulting in an overall terroir effect of small bunches, small berries with concentrated berry flavours and full structured but ripe tannins.

60% matured in 2nd – 4th fill 500 li French Oak barrel for 10 months, 40 % unoaked, matured in stainless steel.

Growing up on my family’s sheep farm near Sutherland in the arid Karoo I spent hours exploring the veld with my canine companion. We enjoyed the simple pleasures of farm life and Nature has always been in my blood. With my passion for the outdoors combined with an affinity for Maths and Science I had my sights set on studying medicine and enrolled for a Bachelor of Science degree at Stellenbosch University. It was here that the wine bug bit. After graduating from Stellenbosch University with a BSc and BSc Honours in Wine Biotechnology in 1998 I was appointed as Assistant Winemaker at Kleine Zalze in Stellenbosch in 1999. Completing harvest tenures in Sancerre St Emilion and Beziers France I gained an appreciation for the balance and elegance of the wines of these regions. Following my time at Kleine Zalze I accepted a winemaker position at Graham Beck Wines in 2005. After a brief stint under the mentorship of Charles Hopkins then-Cellar Master at Franschhoek I found myself the sole winemaker in a world class cellar and living my dream. Drawing on my extensive training and rewarding career as a winemaker and marketer with invaluable experience locally and abroad I took a leap of faith and started my own label in 2016.