Int. MALBEC day

In the spirit of International Malbec day (and the cooler mornings!), we present to you - with no further ado -  BLANKBOTTLE Jaaa-Bru 2023. A 100% Stellenbosch Malbec.

“Jaaa Bru?” is South African slang for “Yesss, my brother?” and this is the warm way I am greeted every time I phone Alex Starey, the winemaker from Keermont who farms this vineyard. 

The vineyard grows deep in the Blaauwklippen valley on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountain - not facing the ocean as one might expect, but rather Stellenbosch, making it quite a unique site. Malbec is a strange-looking grape when it’s ripe. When we pick, it always appears unripe. The berries are soft and juicy and the flesh is green in colour. 

We ferment this wine without any stems and age it in older French Oak barrels for less than a year. The result is an extracted, yet fresh and complex wine. 

And about the label…Malbec translated into my native tongue, Afrikaans, means CRAZY MOUTH… quite clearly the inspiration behind this label! Below I have 2 options for you.