I’ve just returned from a two week marketing trip to Sweden, UK and Ireland where exports are picking up nicely. I’ve come to realise that I need to be a bit quicker with releasing my wines locally. I would really like you to be one step ahead of the others. So today I’m releasing the Im Hinterhofkabuff 2015 (Riesling), as well as a few last bottles of the Neuro wines (Limbic and Orbitofrontal Cortex).
While I was at the South African Wine Show in London, Tim Atkin, a Master of Wine in the UK, released his 2016 South African Wine Report. He basically selects in the region of 1400 South African wines, taste them, write tasting notes on all and award each wine with a point out of 100. A few months prior, WOSA (Wines of South Africa) informed me that Tim requested a BLANKBOTTLE cellar visit to taste our wines. Come to think of it, Tim has been the first and only wine journalist to ever have requested a BLANKBOTTLE winery visit. I put all my cards on the table and presented 24 wines for tasting (made from a combination of 25 different varietals, representing most wine producing areas in SA).
So, back to London, the report came out. Out of the 24 BLANKBOTTLE wines tasted, he scored 22 of them between 92 and 95 points (detailed layout below). In addition to this, we won the “WHITE WINE DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR” Award with our Orbitofrontal Cortex 2015 (conscious neuro wine) and got rated as a second growth winery in SA. According to Tim, 95 points is the equivalent of a gold medal (comparable to a Platter Five Star Award – 80 wines got 95 points), 90-94 points a silver and 85-89 points a bronze medal.
For the first time in the history of the Tim Atkin South African Wine Report, 2 South African wines were awarded 98 points (one white and one red), while six scored 97 points and 102 scored 95 or more. If you would like to read up on his take of the South African wine scene at the moment, you can buy the detailed report here. R290 – I can really recommend this.
I’m extremely grateful for these scorings, as this obviously booms the sales, especially of the top scoring wines. So I’m releasing the Im Hinterhofkabuff 2015 (which scored 95 out of 100 points) to you now to make sure you get your chance to buy. I also have a few mixed cases of the Limbic (92 points) and the Orbitofrontal Cortex (95 points and Tim Atkin’s White Wine Discovery of the year) left.
IM HINTERHOFKABUFF 2015 – Straight Riesling from a small block growing in Elgin, named after my office – The Hinterhofkabuff – Backyard shack.
Mixed case of the LIMBIC 2015 and ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX 2015 – This was released before and sold out quickly, but I nipped a few cases off an allocated export order for the ones that did not get a chance to experience these. My conscious mind vs my Unconscious mind. It is a long story. Best if you click here to read about it.
Also see below for the results of our wines with Tim Atkin (quite a few of these wines I’ve not released yet)
BLANKbottle Orbitofrontal Cortex Western Cape 2015 – 95 points
BLANKbottle Im Hinterhoffkabuff Elgin 2015 – 95 points
BLANKbottle Kliptuin Ceres Plateau 2015 – 95 points
BLANKbottle Familiemoord Swartland 2015 – 94 points
BLANKbottle Jean-Luc Upper Hemel-en Aarde 2015 – 94 points
BLANKbottle Offspring Western Cape 2015 – 94 points
BLANKbottle 100 Voor Paardeberg 2015 – 93 points
BLANKbottle Casting for Chris and Becoming Paul Darling 2015 – 93 points
BLANKbottle JCB Elgin 2014 – 93 points
BLANKbottle Little William Ceres Plateau 2015 – 93 points
BLANKbottle Moment of Silence Wellington 2015 – 93 points
BLANKbottle My Koffer Breedekloof 2015 – 93 points
BLANKbottle Rabbit’s Foot Stellenbosch 2015 – 93 points
BLANKbottle Raw Goudini 2013 – 93 points
BLANKbottle The Foot of a Chicken Stellenbosch 2014 – 93 points
BLANKbottle The Life of a Black Valentine Western Cape NV – 93 points
BLANKbottle The Misfit Swartland 2014 – 93 points
BLANKbottle The White Bomb Western Cape NV – 92 points
BLANKbottle 33,3333 Voor Paardeberg 2014 – 92 points
BLANKbottle AWOL Stellenbosch 2105 – 92 points
BLANKbottle Confessions of a White Glove Chaser Stellenbosch 2014 – 92 points
BLANKbottle Limbic Western Cape 2015 – 92 points
BLANKbottle 3rd Round Western Cape 2014 – 89 points
BLANKbottle The Bomb Stellenbosch NV – 87 points