Moment of Silence 2018

Since it’s maiden vintage in 2007, this wine changed quite a lot. In 2007, it was a blend of Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Viognier - 3 vineyards. The 2018 vintage however, consists of 5 components - 3 Chenin blanc vineyards called Boberg, Spogblok and Draai-Draai as well as Grenache Blanc and Viognier.

-Boberg: This vineyard grows on top of the Groenberg mountain in Wellington in decomposed granite. It was an old neglected bush vine Chenin blanc vineyard that was recently resurrected and converted into an organically farmed parcel. For many years there were no irrigation, but from this year on we started irrigating a little bit. It is very dry on the mountain so this vineyard needs water, especially in these drought-stricken times.

-Spogblok: This vineyard grows below Boberg and is in the region of 60 years old. Due to the fact that it is a trellised vineyard, it is raised from the ground and can therefore handle its own herd of sheep. In 2018 it was a bit of a disaster, the sheep ate most of the leaves in the bunch zone. So the 2018 has no Spogblok in the final blend. It was substituted by a younger Chenin blanc vineyard growing on the Western side of the Groenberg. We call it block N. It is a younger conventional-farmed parcel and not something that we will keep on using. 

The Story:

-Draai-Draai: This vineyard is a trellised vineyard in a little valley on the western slope of the Boberg. It is a great component and produce extracted, dense full-bodied wines. It grows in decomposed granite and was also now converted into an organically farmed block. But this will only be effective from the 2019 vintage onwards. 

These three Vineyards make up about 75% of the final blend. 

-The next 20% is made up of a younger, organically farmed, irrigated Grenache Blanc vineyard on the lower slopes of the Groenberg. In 2018, we started to experiment with different fermentation styles. Specifically with the Grenache we tried some skin fermented parcels and it turned out really good - the idea is to add some tannin and texture to the final blend.

-And the last 5% of the wine is made up of a conventionally farmed Vineyard next to the Grenache.

All the components were fermented in old French Oak barrels 225, 300, 400 and 500L.  Spontaneous fermentation with 1-year aged on the Lees. Moment of Silence is our largest production at present and we produced about 9000 bottles of the 2018. It is arguably our most successful wine.