Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Vloedvlak Colombar 2022
It's always a delight to see a wine fly in the face of the limitations set by wine textbooks.
We're taught that Colombard - or Colombar, as it's often called in South Africa - is a neutral grape most often used in the distillation for brandy or to bulk out inexpensive white wine blends. Hence my excitement at finding this old vine Colombard - its potential was recognised by the winemaker, thoughtful winemaking was applied to nurture that vision, and the results are unlike any wine student could dream for this grape.
The Wine:
Very pale lemon with a surprisingly pronounced nose of honeysuckle, beeswax, ripe but subtle apricots and peaches, Granny Smith apples, mandarins, a hint of nutmeg, and...I know I have an active imagination but I’m going to add distant old smoke and sticky dark toffee.
Dry, medium (+) acidity, medium (+) bodied with a weighty mouthfeel, medium alcohol, and a long finish. The palate is juicy and bright - naartjies!, tart nectarines, and greengage. And yes, there’s some ‘signature’ salinity in the background...but more salty ‘meebos’ (salted dried apricots) and a little seaside brine. It’s the tongue coating long hug texture, along with a little naartjie peel zing that’s so addictive.
Vini + Viti:
100% Colombard grapes planted for distillation just outside Vredendal along the Olifantsrivier in 1978. Vloedvlak means flood level - the method used to irrigate these vines.
Overnight chilling, then destemmed and crushed into an old basket press with no enzymes. Settled overnight in a stainless steel tank, then racked into a different stainless steel tank for natural fermentation that lasted for 1 month.
Thereafter, the wine was aged on its gross lees in 500L barrels for 4 months with regular lees stirring. All together now...say it with me: unfined and unfiltered!
Final thoughts:
I Coravin-ed this because, in all honesty, it is the most expensive Colombard I’ve ever bought. The nose makes promises of complexity; the palate is what one would expect of this grape variety... except that it has the most wonderful weighty mouthfeel. And over 2 days (I never learn that Coravin gas is wasted on Sakkie's addictive wines) the aromas seem to have morphed...which has me rather excited to try this wine again in a year or two once it has fully melded. Sakkie described it as :
"it needs some dust on the shelf!! It's like an old man who got waken up too early, never a good idea".
As always, these tiny production quantity wines fly off the shelves...so, although they 'need some dust', it's best to grab them while you can!
Find the Wine:
The wines are also available in these parts of the world:
Kaap tot Kaap wyn - Netherlands
Unico real wines - Norway
Vinosa - UK
Handford Wines - UK
Click here to read about the Mouton Family Wines Revenge Of The Crayfish 2020, Mouton Family Wines Sand Erf Vermentino 2021, and Full On Misfit Blanc 2020 .
