Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Marelise Niemann, formerly assistant winemaker at Beaumont Family Wines, is a star to watch in Bot River. Here, her minimal intervention approach has produced a vital, pure and honest wine from old dry-farmed Paardeberg bush vines. A third is whole-bunch fruit, and it is all aged for 15 months in old 225 litre barrels. Fresh acidity with tart cherry and cranberry fruit, lifted violet notes and fine, chalky tannins make this a vibrant, elegant and moreish red. 92% Grenache, 8% Carignan.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Grenache is sourced from two vineyards in Swartland on decomposed granite and say, the bush vines seven and 15 years old. It includes 30% whole bunches with two weeks maceration on the skins. It has a very attractive bouquet with pure Morello cherry and crushed strawberry aromas, fine delineation and energy. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, quite tensile and very very pretty, a touch of black pepper and spice on the finish (maybe from the Carignan that sneaked into the vat!).
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Literally meaning "the black land," Swartland takes its name from the endangered, indigenous "renosterbos" (translating to rhino bush), which used to be plentiful enough to turn the entire landscape a dark color certain during times of year. The district, attracting some of the most adventurous and least interventionist winemakers, excels in robust and full-bodied reds as well as quality fortified wines.