A rare opportunity to meet the winemaker from Blankbottle winery and hear the stories behind his quirky boutique wines.

 

We've some terrific news to share with you ahead of the weekend We are absolutely delighted to have a very exciting lineup of 6 exclusive new wines from the critically acclaimed and rebellious South African winemaker Pieter Walser of BLANKBottle Winery.

We are even more excited to ask you to "Come Join Us" for a tasting of these wines, which will be hosted by none other than Pieter Walser who will personally tell you the stories behind his "entertainers"!! For Pieter, the story behind each wine is the most important part, but obviously, they taste great too. We're giving you plenty of notice so you can plan to attend, and the full stories behind the wines & labels are available on our website.

 

There are 2 tasting options available, the first is a Ticketed Guided Tasting that will be held in our private cellar on September 20th from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. The tickets are €20, and the cost can be redeemed against any purchase of a BlankBottle wine. This will be followed by a casual, informal tasting on the shop floor until 7:30 pm.

Below are our exclusive new arrivals which we're sure will fly out the door, they are available to purchase now, and some will be held back for the 20th.

TBC (To Be Confirmed) NV

This is actually the name of the wine...TBC is a straight single-vineyard NV Viognier from the Helderberg,  It is non-vintage which means that all the wine in the bottle is not from the same vintage. Aged for 2 years in older French Oak barrels. A viogner that's not floral or overripe, closer to a Condrieu viognier - fresh, delicate, light & mineral. A blend of early and late pickings to create the perfect balance. Unfortunately for Pieter the name and label didn't happen as it should for this wine and one of his distributors, fed-up of waiting for the name to be confirmed, eventually said; “Why don’t you just call it TBC?!”

 

JAAA BRU 2022

If you translate the word “Mal” from Afrikaans to English, it means “crazy” and “Bek” means “mouth”. And that was quite clearly the inspiration behind this label - 100% Stellenbosch Malbec...single vineyard trellis, 254m above sea-level NE facing slope.

 

The Empire Strikes Back

An all-Stellenbosch white blend from a selection of vineyards - Chenin blanc from the granite Firgrove hills, Chardonnay from the Helderberg's deep rich soils, two blocks of Verdelho from the Helderberg foothills and Rousanne and Marsanne from the Blaauwklippen road. Pieter studied winemaking in Stellenbosch and created this combination that could give some of the Swartland white blends a go. On the left part of the label you will see a half star, which was the logo for the "Swartland Revolution". And on the right - stripes that represent a traditional and conservative EMPIRE.

Little William 2022

It's back again. This wine is a great example of what Shiraz at 750 m above sea level can do. The wine is named after Pieter's chance meeting with a little boy called William on the Witzenberg mountains. It’s been a fascinating story from the start, but the plot has thickened and the story has become even more bizarre since the end of last year when there was another chance meeting.

 

Im Hinterhofkabuff 2022

This vineyard is something really special to Pieter as well as the Farmer, Andre van Wyk. 100% Elgin Weisser Riesling. His aim is not to imitate German-style Rieslings but to try to capture the South African sunlight in this wine. The name for this one just fell into his lap after being interviewed by a journalist in 2010 who kept using the word Hinterhofkabuff whenever he referred to Pieter's office, which is located next to his winery in a very old dilapidated barn type of building.

 

My Koffer 2022

A straight Breedekloof Cinsaut from raised bush vines- with cherries and strawberries, it has a feminine elegance to it with a surprisingly intense personality. With this wine, Pieter presents all the emotions connected to a first love, he presents “My TASSENBERG”, “My TAS" - BLANKbottle Mykoffer - his suitcase full of memories.