Pinotage

Pair with a chargrilled ribeye steak, braised short ribs, or a beef fillet with a coffee-rub crust. Slow-roasted lamb shanks or lamb chops with a cocoa or espresso glaze work beautifully with the wine's earthy and fruity undertones. Smokey barbequed dishes like pulled pork, beef brisket, or smoky spareribs, and game meats like venison or duck with berry or plum sauces will harmonize with the wines roasted coffee and rich fruity notes, respectively. For dessert, try it with Tiramisu, dark chocolate tart or rich, creamy cheeses.

Grapes were harvested from both older dryland bush vines and from trellised vineyards in the Coastal Region. The soils are mainly decomposed granite.

The grapes were hand-harvested at 24.5° brix. Next, the bunches were hand-picked, destalked and hand-sorted to remove raisins and green stems. Fermentation took place in open-top French oak fermenters and manual punch downs were done twice a day. Once alcoholic fermentation was completed, the wine was basket pressed and transferred to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation, with 60% of the barrels being new oak.

Like fine wine, a story is sometimes simply too good not to share. Surrounded with historical gravitas and adventure, one such story is the Nieuwe Haarlem. De Nieuwe Haarlem carries a legacy of perseverance, adventure, and bravery. As a member of the VOC’s (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) fleet it traversed the oceans between continents during a period when the VOC was the world’s first most powerful multinational corporation. The VOC transported high-ranking company officials to distant colonies from its headquarters in Amsterdam. The establishment of a halfway station by Jan Van Riebeeck on 6 April 1652, was the result of the heroic crew’s survival and exploration of the area after the ship floundered in severe weather and ran aground near Table Bay in 1647. During this time, the sailors grew vegetables, planted the Cape’s first vines, and bartered fresh meat with the locals – slowly paving the first stone for what would be the path of establishing the Cape as the halfway refreshment station along the Spice Route. This event led to the establishment of South Africa and the planting of the first vines in the Cape. This wine collection, which has received numerous awards, was developed as a tribute to two of South Africa’s most prominent cultivars: Pinotage and Chenin Blanc.