Pinotage

Enjoy with char-grilled beef fillet or ribeye, or pork belly glazed in honey-soy or star anise. It also pairs beautifully with Asian-inspired dishes, and works surprisingly well with tiramisu or dark chocolate desserts finished with fresh raspberries.

Grapes were sourced from a mix of older dryland bush vines and trellised vineyards in the Paarl region. The vineyards sit mainly on decomposed granite soils, with pockets of sandstone. Paarl’s Mediterranean climate brings hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, with irrigation used only when necessary.

The grapes were hand-harvested and carefully sorted before destemming and gentle crushing. Fermentation took place in stainless steel and open-top French oak, with manual punch-downs twice daily to build colour and flavour. After basket pressing, the wine completed malolactic fermentation in French oak barrels, with 10% new oak, followed by 20 months of maturation.

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.