Black Rock

Long slow cooked roasts of pork or lamb that may even be a little bit fatty (shoulder of lamb and lamb shanks, for example).

Since 2003, we’ve been working with old bush vines in the Swartland that produce this distinctive blend. 2018 was an exceptional vintage, despite a smaller harvest and the third challenging dry season in a row. We harvest early to preserve balance and capture the bright, natural acidity with which these varieties ripen. Drought has been a fact of life in the Swartland over the past few years, but these old vines have never been irrigated and have therefore adapted their root structures to plunge many metres deep into the granite subsoil. If there is moisture to be found, these vines will find it. Smaller crops are a direct result of the drought and a subsequent shift in the varietal make-up has meant that only Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault and Mourvèdre were incorporated in this vintage of Black Rock.

Barrel maturation lasted 18 months with most of the barrels ranging from 2nd to 6th fill. The wine matured on its primary lees for the duration of its time in barrel in order to build the complexity of the palate while practically eliminating the need for sulphur additions. As with all our red wines, this was not fined or filtered prior to bottling.

As is our custom, only hand harvesting was employed to bring the grapes from the vineyards to our cellar and from there, bunch sorting was carried out by hand. Grapes were destemmed and lightly crushed and moved to fermentation vats. A key feature of our process with this wine is that all varieties are co-fermented instead of fermenting separately and then blending. This allows for a much more harmonious and seamless blend. From here the wine was drawn off and skins lightly pressed.

Founded in 1998 by Alex Dale, Radford Dale set about the Cape in search of exciting vineyard parcels for their chosen specialist varietals. Today, they have two producing wineries. The first is located in Stellenbosch, predominantly focused on sourcing maritime influenced parcels around the Helderberg and Polkadraai. Here, they produce the cult, single vineyard wines of Renaissance Chenin Blanc and Frankenstein Pinotage, and the Radford Dale Vinum range; a set of six wines that consistently overdeliver on style to price. The 2022 vintage marked the maiden release from their own vineyards purchased in Elgin under Radford Dale Organic, with the release of four single varietal Estate wines, the only organic certified vineyards in the region. More recently, they have co-founded South Africa’s first Organic Wine Association. They continue to reintroduce Gamay Noir to the Cape, establishing the first new plantings for some 20 years. It’s a varietal geared up to thrive in warm conditions, and on granite soils. Stylistically, Gamay also embodies Radford Dale’s championing of elegant, refreshing red wines.