NOW LIVE ON YOUTUBE - Kortpad Kaaptoe 2025

Fifteen years ago, I stumbled upon the Swartland Fernão Pires (a.k.a. Maria Gomes) vineyard of Kortpad Kaaptoe in my rush to find the shortest route to Cape Town. Today, with the release of the 2025 vintage, I'm taking you to where it all began. 

In this short film, I show you the 45-year-old vineyard and the Koffieklip subsoil that makes this site super unique. I also unpack how this unirrigated Portuguese varietal manages to survive in seemingly desert African conditions. 

Kortpad Kaaptoe is a blend of 4 different pickings from this vineyard: an early fresh component, two optimum-ripe batches and then a later pungent ripe one. It is pressed as whole bunches and fermented spontaneously in older oak barrels, amphora and concrete egg-shaped fermenters that add layers and depth. It spends a year on the lees before bottling.

 

Gee gas, dis 'n vroeë pars.