BlankBottle Familiemoord 2015
Familiemoord. Yes, another Grenache. Yes, another BlankBottle wine. And yes, another bizarre story at the end.
These are my notes on the 2015 that I opened once I knew this 2018 was on its way. Grenache, Pinot Noir and Cinsault. Bright red fruits, cherry, smoke and leather…definitely leather on the nose. Medium bodied with lovely acidity, more red berries and earth on the palate. After all the single variety Grenache that I’ve been consuming lately, this felt wonderfully layered in it’s evolution.
Ready for story time? In October 2013 the police thought that one of my favourite winemakers had murdered his son and buried him in the neighbour’s yard. Police cars lined the streets, police tape cordoned off the neighbour’s property, and neighbours jostled to find out what had happened.
Turns out it was all a misunderstanding. Just a little mischievous fun covering his son with dirt after excavating white sand for a kid’s sandpit. While filling the hole, his son jumped in and started covering himself with soil. The father played along, covering the boy but leaving his face exposed. (Picture the beach…without the beach. We’ve all done it!) A group of neighbourhood boys witnessed this ‘horror’, but didn’t stay to see his son eventually scramble safely out of the hole once the game was done. Instead, the boys raced home to tell their parents who promptly called the cops.
Pieter had some serious explaining to do! And made it into the national newspaper. The wine label is a scan of the actual published article.
FYI. Familiemoord is Afrikaans for Family Murder. And I didn’t need my father’s help translating that.
