Stone-fruit and green melon with subtle oak nuances on the nose. The palate is mineral and citrus driven with struck match and nutty lees flavours. A fresh almost limey acidity contributes to the wine’s length and gives balance to the creamy texture of the barrel fermented component.

You know when something feels ‘just right’… you can’t explain it… it just ‘IS’? Well, that’s how we feel about Donovan Rall who we think is simply one of the biggest talents in South Africa! The towering talent of this itinerant winemaker started out with his own wines back in 2008 after touring/working for a variety of wineries in Europe and Australasia. We were so blown away with his Vuurberg blends, that we partnered up with him for a couple of our own projects! Like Boutinot, Donovan is always on the lookout for amazing fruit that he can craft into something even more amazing; wines from old forgotten vineyards or isolated sites that are full of character, charm and flavour. Donovan trained with Eben Sadie and Miles Mossop before doing his own thing - creating wonderfully honest and natural wines that punch way above their weight.

The grapes are sourced from two vineyards: one called "Kliptuin" which translates to "stone garden". This is the site the first vines were planted on the farm. The other is called "Rivierblok" and has sandier soils. Very long cold winters and cooler than normal ripening periods causes these grapes up in the mountains to ripen at least a month, or in some years up to 2 months, later than in regions like Stellenbosch. Winemaking is kept as basic as possible. Grapes are destemmed and pressed to tank to settle overnight without any additions and then split 50% to tank and the other 50% racked to second and third fill French barriques the next day. Spontaneous fermentation can last up to 6 months. Full malolactic if the wine in barrel wants to, but malolactic is stopped on the tank which is kept as a fresh component. After 10 months on the lees, racking and blending of the 2 components take place and the final wine is left another 2 months to stabilise before bottling with minimal filtration.

A great match with oysters, freshly caught line-fish or summer salads.