Blankbottle, Little William, Ceres Plateau, South Africa, 2022

Product code: 7087

Producer Profile

Starting out making wine in a friends garage, Pieter Walser is today one of South Africa’s most engaging and original winemakers.

His rejection of convention in favour of curiosity, instinct and storytelling sets him and his wines apart. Founded in 2004, the tale of Blankbottle began when a lady came to Pieter asking for anything but Shiraz. ‘I don’t drink Shiraz’ were her exact words. He poured her a glass of wine. She loved it and bought 3 cases. It was a straight Shiraz. That was the moment he realised that people really do judge a book by its cover. By removing the cultivar from the bottle, you also remove preconceived ideas. Each release is treated as an individual narrative, with no grape varieties listed and no fixed stylistic boundaries. Pieter owns no vineyards but seeks out top quality fruit from exceptional sites across the Western Cape, often tiny parcels that slip beneath the radar. The result is an ever-evolving portfolio of distinctive, site-driven wines, many of which are made only once and never repeated. Each label is handcrafted by Pieter, using a variety of techniques such as woodcuts, lino, pencil drawings, stencils etc. Having no indication of varietals on the label - leaving it BLANK - removing all preconceptions as to what lies beyond.

Viticulture

Produced from grapes grown on a small vineyard up at 750 meters above sea-level Ceres Plateaux in sandstone soil. Vines trained according to the vertical shoot positioning method on a traditional 3 wire trellis system.

Winemaking

The grapes were picked at optimal ripeness and cooled overnight to 4 degrees celsius. The next morning the grapes were hand sorted. It fermented in 2 lots. One as whole clusters in an open top fermenter and the other as whole clusters in a submerged cap closed fermenter. The juice underwent spontaneous fermentation and stayed on the skins for as long as possible. Aged in various vessels, older and some new oak for 12 months, blended and bottled.

Tasting Note

A pure and fragrant Syrah from un-grafted vines grown at altitude high on the Ceres Plateau. Finesse, lift and elegance draw more parallels to Pinot Noir than Shiraz, with energy, pepper spice and fine acidity thread throughout.