{"title":"2024 Vintage","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"moment-of-silence-2024","title":"Moment of Silence 2024","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is an all out Wellington warm climate blend of 3 Chenin vineyards, Grenache blanc and Viognier.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt tastings I often get the question: \"How do you conceptualise new wines?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough normally a firm believer in strategic planning, when it comes to new wines, I plan NOT to plan. You can never force a wine, you just need to follow the road you're on. The journey normally starts with a friend, which typically leads to another friend, new areas and vineyards. Ultimately I end up with a wine that expresses the journey more than the actual destination, a combination of these people and their habitat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe perfect example of such a wine is the \u003cstrong\u003eMoment of Silence\u003c\/strong\u003e. It's been a journey of epic proportion from the first vintage in 2007 until today - the release of the 2021 vintage. It all started off with a friend, Jan de Villiers, who took me to Wellington to meet a farmer. To be honest, I wasn't too keen on the area at first but by lunchtime that day I had completely changed my view. What made that meeting so significant in hindsight, was that I was unknowingly about to buy grapes from a farm originally owned by my direct family 7 generations ago and our meeting that day took place around the original Hauptfleisch dining room table owned by my family! It was only after 2 vintages of buying these grapes and making Moment of Silence, that my mom discovered this whilst doing a family tree - quite a confirmation don't you think?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBoberg\u003c\/strong\u003e: This vineyard grows on top of the Groenberg mountain in Wellington in decomposed granite. It was a neglected bush vine Chenin blanc vineyard that was recently resurrected and now being converted into an organically farmed parcel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHangbal\u003c\/strong\u003e: A super old bush-vine Chenin blanc that grows on the lower slopes on the northern side of the Groenberg. Works really well and I foresee a promising future for this component.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTaaiboslaagte\u003c\/strong\u003e: And the last 7% of the wine is made up of a conventionally farmed Viognier Vineyard.Fermentation took place spontaneously in various vessels - Concrete egg shaped tanks, Amphore and older French oak. Aged for 8 months on the lees blended and bottled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Moment of Silence 2024","offer_id":46385741070502,"sku":"8040","price":250.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleMomentofSilence24.png?v=1753086314"},{"product_id":"kortpad-kaaptoe-2024","title":"Kortpad Kaaptoe 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a blend of 4 different pickings of the same vineyard. An early fresh component, 2 optimum ripe batches and then a later pungent ripe one. 100% Fernao Pires a.k.a Maria Gomez\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E8DycJPJzRs?si=PgyQQhiABb4e6OWA\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eFernão WWHHAATTT\u003c\/em\u003eT\u003cem\u003e?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e was my first thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo understand the remoteness of this site, I invite you to go to Google maps and connect the location points of 3 towns:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMalmesbury, Hopefield and Darling with straight lines - this will form a triangle. If you pinpoint the center, that's about as close as you’ll get to spotting this vineyard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThirteen years ago I asked the owner of the farm for directions - I needed an urgent shortcut to Cape Town… or translated to Afrikaans: a “Kortpad Kaaptoe”. He explained directions using his vineyards as reference points. But then he said: \u003cem\u003eyou take a right at the Fernão Pires\u003c\/em\u003e. Needless to say, it took me a bit longer to get to Cape Town, but I had found my next vineyard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt that point I had never heard of Fernão Pires. Knowing what I know now, the appearance of the plants that day in the sweltering Swartland heat explained it all. You see, being a Portuguese grape varietal and a  product of thousands of years of mutation, the cultivar adapted in order to handle heat and an excess of sunlight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePicture the lightly coloured sandy topsoil reflecting the sun from below and the ball of fire from the top in scorching Swartland summer temperatures - hectic conditions to say the least. The bunches are loose, the berries thickly skinned. And with its fine powder-perfume, fragranced-flavour tasting profile and lower natural acidity, the grape is suited to do 4 pickings in a season, each 3 days apart. This enables me to capture 4 different ripening stages in 4 different wines, which I ultimately combine to form the final wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/631034d9-45ce-d111-7ada-35bb160f6610.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis wine was pressed as whole bunches and fermented spontaneously in older oak barrels, amphora and concrete egg shaped fermenters. A year on the lees and voila!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI’ve been making this wine since 2012 and think it's the best vintage to date. The other name for the cultivar is Maria Gomes! Beautiful names!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt sounds like the name of a ruler and his princess; the ruler of never-never land: Your Grace, King Fernão Pires and his beautiful Princess Maria Gomes…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDon’t be intimidated by the strangeness of the varietal; you don’t have to pronounce it. After all, you are a BLANKBOTTLE client - and a BLANKBOTTLE client “\u003cem\u003ese ma maak nie bang kinders groot nie\u003c\/em\u003e”. It is a gorgeous wine. Be bold and step into the unknown!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Kortpad Kaaptoe 2024","offer_id":46385740775590,"sku":"8017","price":235.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Kortpad-Kaaptoe-2024.png?v=1751093628"},{"product_id":"luuks-2024","title":"Luuks 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is a 100% Stellenbosch Chardonnay.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Luuks 2024","offer_id":46385742446758,"sku":"8165","price":350.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankbottleLuuks_1.png?v=1753361133"},{"product_id":"the-empire-strikes-back-2024","title":"The Empire Strikes Back 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Empire Strikes Back - An all-STELLENBOSCH white blend of Verdelho from two different sites, Roussanne, Marsanne and Chenin Blanc.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday I'm standing up to defend the EMPIRE - STELLENBOSCH. Silently, she’s been re-aligning her troops and now strikes back at the Swartland to establish herself yet again as a formidable force.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThe Empire Strikes Back is an all-STELLENBOSCH white blend of Verdelho from 2 different sites, Roussanne, Marsanne, Chardonnay, and Chenin blanc. Just for the record - I am a huge fan of Swartland white blends.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe image of South African wines has changed dramatically over the past 10 years and the Swartland played a huge part in this. Their wines, especially the Rhône-style white blends are top notch. They are fun, young, energetic and unique and started to gain international fame. Stellenbosch, however (where I studied winemaking), is the original EMPIRE of South African wine. Like most of us, I like to support the underdog, and in the case of white blends, the Empire became exactly that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo I created a white blend based on similar varieties - a combination that could give some of the Swartland white blends a go. The empire is therefore now striking back at the Swartland. The label consists of two sections. On the left part of the label you will see a half star, which was the logo for the \"Swartland Revolution\". And on the right - stripes that represent a traditional and conservative EMPIRE.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"The Empire Strikes Back 2024","offer_id":46385742512294,"sku":"8166","price":325.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-The-Empire-Strikes-Back-copy.png?v=1751094125"},{"product_id":"orbitofrontal-cortex-2024","title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex 2024","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA white blend according to my conscious mind, named after the scientific name for the part of your brain where conscious decisions are made - Inspired by LIMBIC 2015 (a wine from my subconscious). 12 Varietals from 17 sites all over the Western Cape.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX - named after the part of your brain where conscious decisions are made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe story behind the origin of ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn October 2015 I was sitting on a plane heading to Joburg, next to a guy who was (or so it seemed) plugged into his computer with wires and stuff. It looked like he was communicating with the machine in a way. When we had landed I asked him what on earth he was doing. He told me that he and his clinical psychologist business partner had started a marketing company called Neural Sense, based in Cape Town.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey conduct market research by tapping into people's subconscious reactions to various inputs. I love weird things, so I told him I make wine and if ever he wanted to do something with wine he was welcome to get in contact. And he did. Three months later I was sitting at the table in my winery hooked onto machines. All my subconscious reactions (in the LIMBIC part of my brain) to each of the 21 components were to be measured and recorded - a camera looking me in the eyes (for eye reactions), a thing on my finger (for blood oxygen levels), a heart rate monitor on my chest, something on my arm (for arousal levels e.g. heat\/sweat) and a mobile EEG device on my head (for monitoring my brain waves).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was the time of year where I had to make up final blends and I was sitting with 21 different white wine components in barrel, which were ready for blending and bottling. They were all different varietals from different areas and vineyards. So my assistant winemaker, Julia, took samples from all the barrels and put them into glasses, which my wife marked from 1 to 21. For each wine I would first close my eyes, then open them and they would start recording with the camera, hand me any wine and prompt me to nose, taste and spit - constantly monitoring and recording my heart rate, blood stuff and activity in my subconscious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course I can’t control my subconscious - before I think of reacting, I already had. We tasted through all 21 wines. I obviously spat, washed my mouth with water in between and we even did a few with clean water in my mouth and used that as a control or base reaction. This process took a whole day. I like to call it work. Their job was now to analyse the data. The way I understand it is that they look at all the parts of my brain that reacted, compare it with all the other blood and heart monitors and then work out with mathematical algorithm what I liked and disliked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe analysis of the data took months, so in the meantime Julia and I decided to blend a control - the best possible white blend from the same 21 parcels - making use of our conscious mind; the ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX. When the results came, the two wines were so different! We blended both and bottled the 2 wines. Please note - we are NOT trying to prove something with this experiment. We were just trying to have fun. And we did… So,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLIMBIC 2015 - Wellington Chenin blanc, Darling Chenin blanc, Swartland Clairette blanche, Upper Hemel and Aarde Pinot Gris and Stellenbosch Viognier And\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eORBITO FRONTAL CORTEX 2015 - Piekenierskloof Grenache blanc, Swartland Clairette blanche, Swartland Fernão Pires, Elgin Semillon and Voor Paardeberg Verdelho. The label: The face of the person I did as a linocut. Printed with black block ink. Printed on organic paper and hand labeled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex 2024","offer_id":46385742577830,"sku":"8167","price":325.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleOrbitofFrontCortex24.png?v=1753086606"},{"product_id":"retirement-65-2024","title":"Retirement @ 65 2024","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e95% - The oldest Cinsaut vineyard in Darling. Planted in 1951 - with 5% Shiraz from its neighbour. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2Q5oifE7acE\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\n\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn June 2014, I arrived at a farm in Darling where I was met by a very grumpy farmer. And for good reason I soon learnt. I had bought bits of grapes from the farmer during that year’s harvest (which all turned out really promising) and was doing my annual post-harvest farm visit with a fresh barrel sample for the farmer to taste.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of his grape clients had previously persuaded him to farm a little Cinsaut vineyard by method of minimum intervention. Not in an organic kind of a way, but more towards a 300% leave-the-vineyard-to-be kind of way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:image --\u003e\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/gallery.mailchimp.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/_compresseds\/168c661f-4277-4250-bfdd-b4b8cf8f9e17.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"margin: 5px 5px 5px 5px; float: none;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/figure\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\" class=\"wp-block-image\"\u003eTo make a long story short, due to many contributing factors, all the grapes of this little Cinsaut vineyard ended up going to the pigs and he was blaming his minimum intervention 300% leave-the-vineyard-to-be client for all of this. To make matters worse, for the 62 years prior to this, the vineyard hardly produced grapes sufficient to produce wine with. You see, his grandfather planted the vineyard in 1951 and had still used a horse to plough the land. The vineyard is on the edge of the mountain in a little valley and the only food source around. So as the berries accumulated sugar, the birds would hop from bunch to bunch pricking the berries with their beaks, causing them to rot. And by the time the grapes ripened there weren’t much left. Now things like this interest me. I asked him if we could give it one more try.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:image --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe reluctantly agreed on the condition that he farms the block the way he believes one should. I, in turn, agreed to buy bird nets to cover the vines and we had a deal. So in mid 2014 the vines were neatly pruned and he took care of the weeds. That spring, after bud break, the first soft green shoots appeared. Everything looked good! Then, one Sunday afternoon, I received a photo on whatsapp. It was the vineyard in question with about 20 odd sheep feeding in the vineyard and no sign of the newly formed soft shoots - only brown stumps remaining as the vineyard celebrated it’s 64th birthday. Late that Friday night his sheep had broken through the fence and ate everything green in colour. So there went another crop and the farmer got even more despondent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut he didn't give up and so, in June 2015, he raised the fence. In early November we covered the whole vineyard in bird nets. Finally, in February 2016 (for the first time in 65 years!) the vineyard survived the onslaught of wild animals roaming the hillsides of Darling and we picked a very small, but healthy, crop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Retirement @ 65 2024","offer_id":46385742643366,"sku":"8168","price":330.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleRetirementat65.png?v=1753086668"},{"product_id":"my-koffer-2024","title":"My Koffer 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis wine articulates the work ethic of Bruno and the commitment of Carlo Suter - the Swiss rooted Breedekloof farming family. Mykoffer - a straight Breedekloof Cinsaut - with cherries and strawberries, it has a feminine elegance to it with a surprisingly intense personality - So with all the emotions connected to a first love, I present “My TASSENBERG”, “My TAS\" - BLANKbottle Mykoffer - a suitcase full of memories.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we move along in this adventure called life, we're (hopefully) increasingly exposed to fine and fascinating wines. We forget quickly and the days of getting excited when opening a bottle of Tassenberg is long gone. So it was then that in February 1994 I walked into Western Cape Liquor Store in Stellenbosch and bought my first bottle of TAS for R3.50. In the (student) years to follow, I partook in a lot of Tassenberg drinking (to put it mildly).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll that drinking gave me ample opportunity for reflection and I came to the conclusion that I wasn't particularly fond of the whole wine, but there was one flavour component in the wine which I loved. That flavour component reminded me of fresh strawberries - a sweet, green, wholesome sort of freshness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1997 I completed a month-long harvest stint in the (then) capital city of Tassenberg - Eersterivier Wine Cellar, Stellenbosch. We literally made hundreds of thousands of litres of Tassenberg. This is where the light went on for me and I finally identified the grape which produces my mysterious fresh strawberry component. It was Cinsaut! Ever since then I’d had the dream of producing a Cinsaut that tastes exactly the way I would like to remember TAS. The first straight Cinsaut I bottled was in 2007 - a Wellington Cinsaut as part of the Educational Range. The wine was good but not exactly the style I was after.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot long thereafter, I received a tip-off from a well-respected winemaker friend about a little Cinsaut vineyard located in the lesser-known Breedekloof Valley. At that stage, the grapes went to a big cooperative winery where it basically disappeared into cheap red blends. So I took the plunge and bought some grapes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis wine articulates the work ethic of Bruno and the commitment of Carlo Suter - the Swiss rooted Breedekloof farming family - a straight Breedekloof Cinsaut - with cherries and strawberries, it has a feminine elegance to it with a surprisingly intense personality - So with all the emotions connected to a first love, I present “My TASSENBERG”, “My TAS\" - BLANKbottle Mykoffer - a suitcase full of memories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"My Koffer 2024","offer_id":46385742741670,"sku":"8169","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleMyKoffer24.png?v=1753086369"},{"product_id":"familiemoord-2024","title":"Familiemoord 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e100% Piekenierskloof Grenache Noir - Familiemoord - a wine about the extraordinary but true story of how the police thought I killed my son and buried him in a shallow grave in the vacant property next to our house. The Cape Argus' article on 11 May 2013 about the incident titled “The mystery of the boy in the sandpit” serves as this wine’s label.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Story: October 2013 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLast night, at 6 pm, my wife's phone rang while I was doing a Pilates session (my wife is a Pilates instructor) in our living room wearing an old t-shirt and pajama pants. It was the lady that moved into our previous house just a few blocks away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \"Are you OK?\",she asked my wife. \"What's going on in your street? The whole place is full of police\". I ran out into the street and she was right – there were police vans parked bumper to bumper from right in front of our house, right down to the end of the street and around the corner! A yellow police crime-scene ribbon was spun around our neighbouring 7 erf property, police standing almost shoulder to shoulder and people from the area streaming in to get their piece of the action.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/4913957e-bdae-d5b5-83a9-7e473b0bc9b0.png\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow this huge property's been vacant and for sale for many years. It is slightly run down at the moment, and the cause of much concern for the neighbours. \"What's going on?\", I asked my other neighbour. Neighbour: \"No one wants to say\". As I made my way through the crowd, I could see one policeman patrolling the crime scene with the help of his German Shepard. Being the direct neighbour to the property, I was directed to an inspector not dressed in police clothing. \"There's been a murder”, he said. \"Goodness...\" I replied. Inspector: \"Yes, a man allegedly killed a child with a spade and buried him in a shallow grave\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Goodness...\" I replied. Me: \"When did this happen?\". It sort of looked like he was getting irritated with me and he reluctantly replied: \"Saturday\". As my mind started to add up a few things (thinking maybe this is where I should just keep silent and walk away), I asked the next question: \"Where did he bury the child?\" Inspector: \"You see where the dog's at? right there\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"OOOOPSSSS\", I replied, \"that was me...\" You see, on Saturday I had decided to build a sandpit for my 3 little ones to play in. The closest and most convenient place to get pure white sand from was under the grass of the vacant property right next to me. So I neatly removed blocks of grass with my spade (the size of, come to think of it now, a small grave) until the white sand was exposed. I then dug a hole and transferred the sand to the sand pit on my property, replacing the sand with soil I dug up from the sand pit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust before I started to close the 1.5 meter deep hole however, my 7-year-old son, Luca, jumped into the hole and covered himself with soil. I joined in the fun and continued to throw the rest of the soil on him until only his head stuck out. What we didn't notice at that point was the shocked faces of a few boys from the neighbourhood passing on their bikes at that very moment....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat they didn't see of course, was how Luca then wiggled his way out and I closed the hole and replaced the grass patches - very neatly so that no one could see I was there. These very upset children drove straight home telling the one kid’s mom that a guy with long blonde hair killed a boy with a spade and is busy burying him in a shallow grave, at the vacant property in Brand Street.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInitially she brushed them off, but after a sleepless night with hysterical children, she decided to investigate - and discovered the suspicious shallow grave, just as they said. So she phoned the police who came out to the property and suddenly: CRIME SCENE... Policeman: \"So you are the guy with the long blonde hair!\". I (still dressed in my pajama pants) confirmed the size of my son and he shouted to everyone: \"Pack up guys, we found the suspect\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDon't be surprised if my next wine is called \"child killer\" or “sandpit”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Familiemoord 2024","offer_id":46385742807206,"sku":"8170","price":330.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Familiemoord-23-copy.png?v=1751093452"},{"product_id":"seelug-2024","title":"Seelug 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA fresh, elegantly oaked, limey and delicious Chardonnay - more to the serious side of things.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kS-OYmkGS8w?si=r90EnNYqGWL6HT3w\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst things first though - some relevant terminologies: Off-shore wind - air movement off-the-shore, into-the-ocean. On-shore wind - air movement from-the-ocean, onto-the-shore. Chop\/wit pertjies \/ white horses - Little waves produced by long distance air movement over large expanses of open ocean surfaces. Sampling - The picking of random grape berries from a vineyard in order to get a representable sample to determine ripeness. Seelug - Sea Air.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne hot day, during the harvest of ’22, I was sampling a little (as yet) un-named Chardonnay vineyard which a good friend had told me about. Situated on the lower slopes of the Helderberg, it overlooks False Bay. Glancing over towards the ocean that day, I could clearly see that the off-shore wind was blowing. This was good news to the Strand local I am, as the elusive off-shore wind grooms the waves, making them perfect for my local surf spot. I made a mental note to get a move-on with my sampling, no time to lose. But 20 minutes later, as I once again raised my head from my berry-picking, grape-squashing exercise, I glanced over the bay. D’oh! (as Homer Simpson would say) - the wind had turned onshore. I could clearly see the tell-tale \"wit perdjies\" on the horizon heading towards shore. In a few minutes the perfectly groomed waves would be destroyed. Deflated, I carried on with the task at hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen, another 20 minutes later it hit me - SEELUG! It suddenly felt like someone was spraying my sun-baked face with a cool, misty oyster extract - a fragrance of fresh, salty, damp bamboo…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo whilst the onshore might be wrecking waves, it simultaneously pushes the hot air inland and hugs every Chardonnay plant in that vineyard with a fragranced coolness which not many vines ever experience. A fresh, elegantly oaked, limey and delicious Chardonnay - more to the serious side of things.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Seelug 2024","offer_id":46385742839974,"sku":"8177","price":350.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleSeelug.png?v=1753086726"},{"product_id":"oorbegin-2024","title":"Oorbegin 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA field blend of: over 40 year old Chenin blanc bushvines and young Piquepoul blanc, Petit Manseng, Semillon, Macabeo, Pallomino and Grillo - OORBEGIN (directly translated it means “START-OVER”, referring to a new beginning for the vineyard.) Please listen to the voice note below.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI received a phone call from a (very excited) good friend and viticulturist Jaco Engelbrecht. He was standing in the veld with one of his clients, Andre du Toit, who had just purchased a farm in the Voor-Paardeberg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn their walk, they had just stumbled upon a lone vine. Upon further investigation they discovered more vines - growing on the forest floor, into trees etc. The interesting thing was that they seemed to be planted in rows - all pointing to the fact that at some stage this had been a commercial vineyard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAndre, being the new owner, then phoned up the previous farmer. It then transpired that 40 years before the owner had planted that block of Chenin blanc with the goal of producing grapes for the closest big cooperative winery. He had farmed the vineyard successfully for 15 years, whereafter the crop declined and he had made the decision to stop farming the vineyard, as it hadn’t been financially viable anymore.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut instead of removing the vines, he had just left them there. They grew in the bushes for 25 years. He never pruned or harvested them - they were just completely abandoned, with no irrigation, growing into trees totally in the wild.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reason for my friend Jaco’s call? They wanted to know if I'd be interested in buying the grapes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so the project started. Jaco and Andre started by tidying up the vineyard and removing the plants between the vines that were still alive. The vines had not been pruned for 25 years and this resulted in no thick arms like you would get in commercially-farmed bush vine vineyards. They were thin and flimsy. After a very light pruning in winter, the first crop was ready in 2018. We made 1 barrel from the grapes it produced. OORBEGIN (directly translated it means “START-OVER”, referring to a new beginning for the vineyard.)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46523985821862,"sku":null,"price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleOorbegin24.png?v=1753088606"},{"product_id":"pink-bomb-2024","title":"Pink Bomb 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA solid 14.5% alcohol Piekenierskloof Grenache noir Rose, please do not judge the wine by it's alcohol... It is on the high side but the wine is in 100% balance. Fresh as a daisy. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI am not sure which one of these 2 wines should be crowned “Worst name of all time”, but I would say that our most-popular-story-to-date-wine, “Familiemoord”, is still one short step ahead of \"The Pink BOMB\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday I am not going to tell you the Familiemoord story again (if you haven’t heard it - \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/blankbottle.co.za\/blank_bottle_wines\/familiemoord-2022\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eplease click here\u003c\/a\u003e). But what you might not be aware of is that Familiemoord and The Pink BOMB are in fact relatives, as in REAL family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey both originate from (in my eyes) the most beautiful wine producing area in South Africa. The Piekenierskloof… 235 km drive from my house and +-800m above sea-level. Massively high sun intensity, cool nights, sandstone soils, dry land bush vines - all ingredients for all-time Grenache.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe grapes for both these wines hit the winery at the same time and we subsequently hand sort through about 5% of the total intake. These go as whole bunches to the bottom of a tank, packed around the tap forming a kind of filter\/sieve. We then take the balance of the grapes, remove the stems and crush the berries allowing the juice to flow freely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we add the crushed grapes to the tank, we try not to disturb our initial “grapes-whole-bunch-filter\". The purpose of the “filter\" is to block the movement of the skins and pips to only allow the clear juice to flow towards the tap. At this point in time, the juice for the 2 wines get split up and journey on much different paths.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe allow the free run salmon pink juice, destined for The Pink BOMB, to drain from the tap and pump it into older French oak barrels (this process takes roughly 2 days until 70% of the juice is removed). Fermentation takes place in barrel and the wine is aged on the lees for 10 months before bottling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe remaining 30% of the juice in the original tank as well as the skins and pulp then go through fermentation. During this process, the fibers in the pulp break down and the trapped juice is exposed to the skins. The result: an extracted, perfumy, fine tannin, maximum skin vs juice ratio RED called Familiemoord.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDue to the different sugar levels of the free-run juice vs. pulp as well as the difference in fermentation temperature, the 2 wines differ in alcohol with the rosé being slightly higher (hence the name). BUT please note that the Rosé is still fine and delicate. A wine in balance will always be the name of the game.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46524038611110,"sku":null,"price":250.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleThePinkBomb2024.png?v=1753090696"},{"product_id":"frostbite-at-westpeak-2024","title":"Frostbite at Westpeak 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e100% Vine Dried Sauvignon blanc\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9GFIOATeilw?si=jQqtGf8Gjub6aaGf\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46524078719142,"sku":null,"price":595.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleFrostbiteatWestpeak.png?v=1753091215"},{"product_id":"luuks-magnum-2024","title":"Luuks Magnum 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is a 100% Stellenbosch Chardonnay.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Luuks 2024","offer_id":46546479480998,"sku":"8165","price":810.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankbottleLuuks_1.png?v=1753361133"},{"product_id":"jaa-bru-2024","title":"Jaa-Bru 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf you translate the word “Mal” from Afrikaans to English, it means “crazy” and “Bek” means “mouth”. And that was quite clearly the inspiration behind this label - 100% Stellenbosch Malbec...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Jaaaa Bru?” is South African slang for “Yes, my brother?” and this is the warm way I get greeted every time I phone Alex Starey, the farmer who farms this vineyard. Jaaaa Bru, a 100% Malbec. It grows on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountain - not facing the ocean as one might expect, but rather Stellenbosch, making these vineyards quite unique.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMalbec 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. It produces an extracted, yet fresh and complex wine. Phonetically speaking, if you translate “Malbec” from Afrikaans to English, it literally means “crazy mouth”.  And that was quite clearly the inspiration behind the label.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Jaa-Bru 2024","offer_id":46546631065766,"sku":"7898","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Jaa-Bru-2016-copy.png?v=1751093542"},{"product_id":"makstokkie-2024","title":"Makstokkie 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThis is a Swartland 100% Verdelho. This wine sold out so quickly I haven't even had a chance to do a complete write-up...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Makstokkie 2024","offer_id":46549361885350,"sku":"7958","price":0.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Makstokkie-20.png?v=1751093678"},{"product_id":"orbitofrontal-cortex-magnum-2024","title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex Magnum 2024","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA white blend according to my conscious mind, named after the scientific name for the part of your brain where conscious decisions are made - Inspired by LIMBIC 2015 (a wine from my subconscious). 12 Varietals from 17 sites all over the Western Cape.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX - named after the part of your brain where conscious decisions are made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe story behind the origin of ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn October 2015 I was sitting on a plane heading to Joburg, next to a guy who was (or so it seemed) plugged into his computer with wires and stuff. It looked like he was communicating with the machine in a way. When we had landed I asked him what on earth he was doing. He told me that he and his clinical psychologist business partner had started a marketing company called Neural Sense, based in Cape Town.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey conduct market research by tapping into people's subconscious reactions to various inputs. I love weird things, so I told him I make wine and if ever he wanted to do something with wine he was welcome to get in contact. And he did. Three months later I was sitting at the table in my winery hooked onto machines. All my subconscious reactions (in the LIMBIC part of my brain) to each of the 21 components were to be measured and recorded - a camera looking me in the eyes (for eye reactions), a thing on my finger (for blood oxygen levels), a heart rate monitor on my chest, something on my arm (for arousal levels e.g. heat\/sweat) and a mobile EEG device on my head (for monitoring my brain waves).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was the time of year where I had to make up final blends and I was sitting with 21 different white wine components in barrel, which were ready for blending and bottling. They were all different varietals from different areas and vineyards. So my assistant winemaker, Julia, took samples from all the barrels and put them into glasses, which my wife marked from 1 to 21. For each wine I would first close my eyes, then open them and they would start recording with the camera, hand me any wine and prompt me to nose, taste and spit - constantly monitoring and recording my heart rate, blood stuff and activity in my subconscious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course I can’t control my subconscious - before I think of reacting, I already had. We tasted through all 21 wines. I obviously spat, washed my mouth with water in between and we even did a few with clean water in my mouth and used that as a control or base reaction. This process took a whole day. I like to call it work. Their job was now to analyse the data. The way I understand it is that they look at all the parts of my brain that reacted, compare it with all the other blood and heart monitors and then work out with mathematical algorithm what I liked and disliked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe analysis of the data took months, so in the meantime Julia and I decided to blend a control - the best possible white blend from the same 21 parcels - making use of our conscious mind; the ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX. When the results came, the two wines were so different! We blended both and bottled the 2 wines. Please note - we are NOT trying to prove something with this experiment. We were just trying to have fun. And we did… So,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLIMBIC 2015 - Wellington Chenin blanc, Darling Chenin blanc, Swartland Clairette blanche, Upper Hemel and Aarde Pinot Gris and Stellenbosch Viognier And\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eORBITO FRONTAL CORTEX 2015 - Piekenierskloof Grenache blanc, Swartland Clairette blanche, Swartland Fernão Pires, Elgin Semillon and Voor Paardeberg Verdelho. The label: The face of the person I did as a linocut. Printed with black block ink. Printed on organic paper and hand labeled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex 2024","offer_id":46725876613286,"sku":"8167","price":660.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleOrbitofFrontCortex24.png?v=1753086606"},{"product_id":"familiemoord-magnum-2024","title":"Familiemoord Magnum 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e100% Piekenierskloof Grenache Noir - Familiemoord - a wine about the extraordinary but true story of how the police thought I killed my son and buried him in a shallow grave in the vacant property next to our house. The Cape Argus' article on 11 May 2013 about the incident titled “The mystery of the boy in the sandpit” serves as this wine’s label.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Story: October 2013 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLast night, at 6 pm, my wife's phone rang while I was doing a Pilates session (my wife is a Pilates instructor) in our living room wearing an old t-shirt and pajama pants. It was the lady that moved into our previous house just a few blocks away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \"Are you OK?\",she asked my wife. \"What's going on in your street? The whole place is full of police\". I ran out into the street and she was right – there were police vans parked bumper to bumper from right in front of our house, right down to the end of the street and around the corner! A yellow police crime-scene ribbon was spun around our neighbouring 7 erf property, police standing almost shoulder to shoulder and people from the area streaming in to get their piece of the action.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/4913957e-bdae-d5b5-83a9-7e473b0bc9b0.png\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow this huge property's been vacant and for sale for many years. It is slightly run down at the moment, and the cause of much concern for the neighbours. \"What's going on?\", I asked my other neighbour. Neighbour: \"No one wants to say\". As I made my way through the crowd, I could see one policeman patrolling the crime scene with the help of his German Shepard. Being the direct neighbour to the property, I was directed to an inspector not dressed in police clothing. \"There's been a murder”, he said. \"Goodness...\" I replied. Inspector: \"Yes, a man allegedly killed a child with a spade and buried him in a shallow grave\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Goodness...\" I replied. Me: \"When did this happen?\". It sort of looked like he was getting irritated with me and he reluctantly replied: \"Saturday\". As my mind started to add up a few things (thinking maybe this is where I should just keep silent and walk away), I asked the next question: \"Where did he bury the child?\" Inspector: \"You see where the dog's at? right there\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"OOOOPSSSS\", I replied, \"that was me...\" You see, on Saturday I had decided to build a sandpit for my 3 little ones to play in. The closest and most convenient place to get pure white sand from was under the grass of the vacant property right next to me. So I neatly removed blocks of grass with my spade (the size of, come to think of it now, a small grave) until the white sand was exposed. I then dug a hole and transferred the sand to the sand pit on my property, replacing the sand with soil I dug up from the sand pit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust before I started to close the 1.5 meter deep hole however, my 7-year-old son, Luca, jumped into the hole and covered himself with soil. I joined in the fun and continued to throw the rest of the soil on him until only his head stuck out. What we didn't notice at that point was the shocked faces of a few boys from the neighbourhood passing on their bikes at that very moment....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat they didn't see of course, was how Luca then wiggled his way out and I closed the hole and replaced the grass patches - very neatly so that no one could see I was there. These very upset children drove straight home telling the one kid’s mom that a guy with long blonde hair killed a boy with a spade and is busy burying him in a shallow grave, at the vacant property in Brand Street.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInitially she brushed them off, but after a sleepless night with hysterical children, she decided to investigate - and discovered the suspicious shallow grave, just as they said. So she phoned the police who came out to the property and suddenly: CRIME SCENE... Policeman: \"So you are the guy with the long blonde hair!\". I (still dressed in my pajama pants) confirmed the size of my son and he shouted to everyone: \"Pack up guys, we found the suspect\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDon't be surprised if my next wine is called \"child killer\" or “sandpit”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Familiemoord 2024","offer_id":46725932941478,"sku":"8170","price":630.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Familiemoord-23-copy.png?v=1751093452"},{"product_id":"my-koffer-magnum-2024","title":"My Koffer Magnum 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis wine articulates the work ethic of Bruno and the commitment of Carlo Suter - the Swiss rooted Breedekloof farming family. Mykoffer - a straight Breedekloof Cinsaut - with cherries and strawberries, it has a feminine elegance to it with a surprisingly intense personality - So with all the emotions connected to a first love, I present “My TASSENBERG”, “My TAS\" - BLANKbottle Mykoffer - a suitcase full of memories.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we move along in this adventure called life, we're (hopefully) increasingly exposed to fine and fascinating wines. We forget quickly and the days of getting excited when opening a bottle of Tassenberg is long gone. So it was then that in February 1994 I walked into Western Cape Liquor Store in Stellenbosch and bought my first bottle of TAS for R3.50. In the (student) years to follow, I partook in a lot of Tassenberg drinking (to put it mildly).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll that drinking gave me ample opportunity for reflection and I came to the conclusion that I wasn't particularly fond of the whole wine, but there was one flavour component in the wine which I loved. That flavour component reminded me of fresh strawberries - a sweet, green, wholesome sort of freshness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1997 I completed a month-long harvest stint in the (then) capital city of Tassenberg - Eersterivier Wine Cellar, Stellenbosch. We literally made hundreds of thousands of litres of Tassenberg. This is where the light went on for me and I finally identified the grape which produces my mysterious fresh strawberry component. It was Cinsaut! Ever since then I’d had the dream of producing a Cinsaut that tastes exactly the way I would like to remember TAS. The first straight Cinsaut I bottled was in 2007 - a Wellington Cinsaut as part of the Educational Range. The wine was good but not exactly the style I was after.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot long thereafter, I received a tip-off from a well-respected winemaker friend about a little Cinsaut vineyard located in the lesser-known Breedekloof Valley. At that stage, the grapes went to a big cooperative winery where it basically disappeared into cheap red blends. So I took the plunge and bought some grapes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis wine articulates the work ethic of Bruno and the commitment of Carlo Suter - the Swiss rooted Breedekloof farming family - a straight Breedekloof Cinsaut - with cherries and strawberries, it has a feminine elegance to it with a surprisingly intense personality - So with all the emotions connected to a first love, I present “My TASSENBERG”, “My TAS\" - BLANKbottle Mykoffer - a suitcase full of memories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"My Koffer Magnum 2024","offer_id":46735268020390,"sku":"8169","price":750.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleMyKoffer24.png?v=1753086369"},{"product_id":"1-click-off-2024","title":"1-Click-Off 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e100% Pinot Noir from Elgin - In 2012, I was introduced to a lonely, newly-established 3-clone-combination Pinot Noir Vineyard (12.2km North of Kleinmond as the crow flies). Little did I know what lay ahead for me and this little vineyard. See below for the full story...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eI started with a clear vision for this wine - only to miss it completely… hence the original name of the wine: 2-CLICKS-OFF. The ‘13 and ‘14 vintages came and went - either down the drain or to a blend. The vineyard then changed ownership and I was out. Lost the vineyard. It happens from time to time. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI’m a firm believer in letting things takes its natural course but this time round it was different. I had the conviction that the vineyard was mine to make wine of. It just needed to mature a bit. So I decided to fight for it. Like back in the day when my now wife dated one of my friends… I didn’t give up and in harvest 2016 I received the long-awaited phone call: do I still want the Pinot? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBeing so late in the season, the grapes were over-ripe and the vineyard was in a neglected state. But I knew that it was my chance to get my foot back in the door. After harvest, when the dust had settled, we sat down and had a chat. I immediately sensed a change of heart. André van Wyk, the now fully-committed sole owner, had a vision but wasn't sure how to go about it. He was also aiming for a classic Pinot. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSo I took my cue from George Clooney in the OCEAN-8 movie: I needed a team. I approached a guy called Jaco Engelbrecht of Visual Viticulture - an intensely articulated and passionate guy. I introduced Jaco and Andre and immediately there was the proverbial magic in the air. The game was on!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg style=\"margin: 5px 5px 5px 5px; float: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/eef310c2-d46f-c308-f08b-fa467ddf0472.jpeg\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAndre got so excited that he employed Marthinus and Patric to spend 100% of their time in the vineyard. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe started to farm (or rather groom) the vineyard intensely. What a journey… In Jaco’s opinion it was going to take 3 years to see results. The goal? To take that 2-clicks-off cannon and slowly pull it into place. Little by little, we nourished the struggling plants by removing any possible competition and nursed them back to life. Reserves were building up bit by bit and we picked the best crop to date. When it landed in the winery, we threw everything at it. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe OCEANS-8 team is of the opinion that we've nailed it. But I disagree. I have a feeling that we are yet to reach the full potential of this prodigal vineyard - and the name of the wine therefore - 1-CLICK-OFF…\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"1-Click-Off 2024","offer_id":56080675635366,"sku":"7928","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleClickOff.png?v=1753086062"},{"product_id":"confessions-of-a-white-glove-chaser-2024","title":"Confessions of a White Glove Chaser 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn short, 60% Cabernet franc with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon - all from the lower false bay slopes of the Helderberg.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo give a bit of perspective - you have to realise that at the time (2013) I didn't have a budget for a vineyard consultant. So I was forced to be creative. Strategic vineyard-site selection is where all wine begins. I was mostly focussed on many unusual varietals of which there were very little on offer, so in a way it made it easy to choose a site. You take what you can get.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut I wanted to start making Bordeaux - stuff like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The Helderberg has many plantings but I didn’t have a clue how to separate the chaff from the wheat. And no money to pay someone to do it for me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo this one particular day I was driving past a vineyard and saw something strange: the picking team was wearing white surgical gloves! I pulled off the road and asked the pickers who they were picking for. At the time there were rumours going round about these guys and I knew that they were spending obscene amounts of cash on local and international consultants in areas like viticulture and soil science - basically terroir fundi's. Their ultimate goal: to sift through the huge amount of Bordeaux vineyards on offer to pick only the very best. So I asked the farmer if I could buy the grapes as close as possible to the piece going to the White Gloves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is my confession about how I started chasing the White Gloves. Where they bought, I bought as close to them as possible. Sometimes right next to them. It was that simple. My creative low-budget strategy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe label:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI traced the shape of my (at the time) 8-year-old son's hand and using linography, created the image for the label. The wine, like all my wines: made, hand bottled and hand labeled - by the colourful people of South Africa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Confessions of a White Glove Chaser 2024","offer_id":56809035956390,"sku":null,"price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank_Bottle_Confessions_of_a_White_Glove_Chaser_2024.png?v=1788960163"},{"product_id":"aasvoel-2024","title":"Aasvoël 2024","description":"\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MUGj0G7BS3Q\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\n\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is a Verdelho from a single vineyard situated on the Helderberg, Stellenbosch. Aasvoël - an Afrikaans word for a ”vulture” - See the story behind the name below. This started off me being an “Aasvoël”, not able to buy the grapes on a regular basis. But it looks like I might be on the list for the foreseeable future. Let's see how it goes...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2014 I received a phone call from a fellow winemaker. “Do you need some Verdelho?” he asked. I am always on the lookout for something interesting and Stellenbosch Verdelho fits the bill.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is the buyer for this little vineyard but the 2014 crop was huge and his tanks were full. I bought what grapes he had left and the wine turned out to be fantastic! So obviously I would love to buy some every year, but the production of a normal year is not high enough to accommodate another buyer. So I became an Aasvoël  - an Afrikaans word for a ”vulture” - sitting on a pole, watching the vineyard. If something falls off the truck, I pick it up (figuratively speaking of course!). In other words, if it is a high production year, I get some grapes. In 2015 I got nothing, 2016 and 2017 came and went and I was still sitting on the pole - eagerly watching. And then in harvest 2018 it came: the call “do you want to make another Aasvoël?” - 100% Stellenbosch Verdelho.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd here I am again, on the pole - waiting…\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Aasvoël 2024","offer_id":57528820957350,"sku":null,"price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blankbottle-Aasvoel-23.png?v=1751093195"}],"url":"https:\/\/blankbottle.co.za\/collections\/2024-vintage.oembed","provider":"Blankbottle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}