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€34.95
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€39.95
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New & Excluive To The Corkscrew The forth vintage of [email protected], the 2019 - It is a radical red wine, only 12% in alcohol with this very natural vibe to it, driven by perfume rather than fruit, fresh and drinkable. Far removed from the style the new world is typically known for. With the block of Cinsaut now 68 years of age it ironically comes to life at the age of Retirement... Added to the Cinsaut is a little dash of Shiraz from the same area. And the label: A linocut I made to celebrate the fact that we won and the sheep lost. Full Story Below!
- Delivery Nationwide: only €7.50
FREE when you spend €120 +
The Story:
In June 2014, I arrived at a farm in Darling where I was met by a very grumpy farmer. And for good
reason I soon learnt. I had bought bits of grapes from the farmer during that year’s harvest (which
all turned out really promising) and was doing my annual post-harvest farm visit with a fresh barrel
sample for the farmer to taste.
One of his grape clients had previously persuaded him to farm a little Cinsaut vineyard by method
of minimum intervention. Not in an organic kind of a way, but more towards a 300% leave-the-
vineyard-to-be kind of way.
To make a long story short, due to many contributing factors, all the grapes of this little Cinsaut
vineyard ended up going to the pigs and he was blaming his minimum intervention 300% leave-
the-vineyard-to-be client for all of this. To make matters worse, for the 62 years prior to this, the
vineyard hardly produced grapes sufficient to produce wine with. You see, his grandfather planted
the vineyard in 1951 and had still used a horse to plough the land. The vineyard is on the edge of
the mountain in a little valley and the only food source around. So as the berries accumulated
sugar, the birds would hop from bunch to bunch pricking the berries with their beaks, causing
them to rot. And by the time the grapes ripened there weren’t much left. Now things like this
interest me. I asked him if we could give it one more try.
He reluctantly agreed on the basis that he farms the block the way he believes one should. I, in
turn, agreed to buy bird nets to cover the vines and we had a deal. So mid 2014 the vines were
neatly pruned and he took care of the weeds. That spring, after bud break, the first soft green
shoots appeared. Everything looked good! Then, one Sunday afternoon, I received a photo on
whatsapp. It was the vineyard in question with about 20 odd sheep feeding in the vineyard and no
sign of the newly formed soft shoots - only brown stumps remaining as the vineyard celebrated
it’s 64th birthday. Late that Friday night his sheep had broken through the fence and ate
everything green in colour. So there went another crop and the farmer got even more despondent.
But he didn't give up and so, in June 2015, he raised the fence. In early November we covered
the whole vineyard in bird nets. Finally, in February 2016 (for the first time in 65 years!) the
vineyard survived the onslaught of wild animals roaming the hillsides of Darling and we picked a
very small, but healthy, crop.
And this is the result:
The forth vintage of [email protected], the 2019 - It is a radical red wine, only 12% in alcohol with
this very natural vibe to it, driven by perfume rather than fruit, fresh and drinkable. Far removed
from the style the new world is typically known for. With the block of Cinsaut now 68 years of age
it ironically comes to life at the age of Retirement... Added to the Cinsaut is a little dash of Shiraz
from the same area. And the label: A linocut I made to celebrate the fact that we won and the
sheep lost.
Grape type | Syrah/Shiraz, Cinsault |
---|---|
Country/Region | South Africa |
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FREE NATIONWIDE DELIVERY FOR ORDERS OF €120+
Delivery is free on all orders over €120, anywhere in Ireland. For smaller orders our standard delivery charge is only €7.50 per delivery address.
FROM CLICKS TO BRICKS: BUY ONLINE, PICK UP IN-STORE
You've been asking for it, so here it is. You can now buy online and pick up in-store. Will save you a tenner on smaller purchases (less than €120).
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