The Undeniable
VIDEO CHAPTER INDEX:
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00:00 - INTRO TO CLIMATE CHANGE CULTIVARS
01:18 - GRENACHE & MOURVEDRE: THE ORIGIN STORIES
02:08 - WHAT DOES THE WINE TASTE AND SMELL LIKE?
03:34 - THE WESTERN CAPE IS A WATER SCARCE REGION
04:22 - THE OLD VINE PODIUM FOR TOUGHEST SURVIVORS
05:15 - THREE WHITE CULTIVARS WORTH WATCHING CLOSELY
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As part of the an extended focus on the "Climate Change Cultivars" of the Western Cape, we're showcasing the Dryland farmed UnderWorld Blend #3 (2021 vintage).
The wine was made by winemaker JD Roussouw and his Wildeberg team; probably best known as the winners of "Winemag Winery of the Year" award for 2022. They also recently received a ridiculous amount of love from Tim Atkin MW in his South Africa Report for 2022.
But before all this, it was Strange Kompanjie - a more experimental brand extension of the now-renowned Wildeberg - that first began tipping off local and international critics to the fact that there was something special going on at this little cellar in Franschhoek.
In 2021, the Strange Kompanjie Tea Leaf 2018 garnered a TopTen spot in the WineMag White Blend awards. And before that - in 2020 - the Underworld Blend 3 2019 was dubbed "Best Rhone Style Blend" at the then-Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show (now renamed the Investec Trophy Wine Show).
In the subsequent years, the team have been refining their processes at Strange Kompanjie, managing to deliver wines that are not only incredibly well made, but that also pique the intellectual curiosity of adventurous wine lovers. This Underworld Blend 3 is no exception.
If you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you'll have to hunt this wine down in your own time. But until then, here are my tasting notes and some technical specs:
TASTING NOTES
👃🏼 - Moderate nose of cinnamon, cedar wood, cured meat, raspberry, and deeper wild blackberries.
👄 - A fascinating mix red plum, blackberries, and sour raspberry. Swirled with a seam of smoked meat, which complicates things to no end! Texture is lithe, with ridiculously fine tannins.
TECHNICAL SPECS
Grenache Noir - Voor-Paardeberg area, 'stok by paaltjie' vineyard
Mouverdre - Agter Paarl
Skalie ground, decomposed granite soils
Grenache 30% , whole bunch
Mouverdre destemmed
Natural fermented in 600L French oak barrels
We keep all the berries without crushing.
It was in barrels for 9months..
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HanDrinksSolo is South Africa's most adventurous wine club. Each month subscribers receive a mixed case of 2, 4, or 6 bottles, packed with limited wines, undiscovered gems, natural wines, and weird cultivars (without neglecting the classics). Each bottle also comes with a QR code linked to an educational video on that wine. The videos are packed full of wine trivia, wine science, and fun facts. You know, for those awkward silences at dinner parties. Everyone loves a know-it-all!
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