{"title":"Quick Order","description":null,"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":"tbc-name-to-be-confirmed-non-vintage","title":"TBC Name to be confirmed (non-vintage)","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI spent 4 days driving from Avignon all along the Rhône river through Hermitage, Crozes Hermitage, Condrieu to Côte Rôtie. It was fascinating and invigorating. Condrieu’s wines (or rather the ones I tasted), were mineral, fresh and lean with depth in character and complexity - and made from Viognier - a varietal we struggle with in South Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSA Viognier are mostly over extracted, rich, sweet and floral. I have access to a really nice block of Viognier on the slopes of the Helderberg mountain facing Stellenbosch. I have been making wine from that block since 2012, but,up until today, have only used it in blends. So I decided to do an experiment. We picked the vineyard in two sections. The first picking on a relatively low sugar and a second picking as a ripe component. A combination of the two were aged for 2 years in old small barrel French Oak - 50% of the final blend. The other 50% was an early picking of the same vineyard the following year. In other words; the final wine is 50% early picking that spent one year in barrel (2018 vintage) and the other 50% a combination of early and late picking aged 2 years in barrel (2017 vintage).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd I had no name for the wine. You know, it does happen that sometimes the name and label of a wine just doesn’t happen when it should… My distributers pressured me to get the wine out and after a suggestion by one of the reps, the name became TBC - To Be Confirmed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe label: my youngest son had his 7th birthday party and wanted me to make him a leopard cake - in 3D of course… To shape a leopard body is easy, but a head of a leopard is massively difficult to do. So, I made a paper mache head of a leopard and painted it. And the label became the infamous leopard cake head.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"TBC Name to be confirmed (non-vintage)","offer_id":46385706074278,"sku":"4674","price":199.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-A-copy-e1569070564614_460e1f51-817c-4f60-b4ce-c1b0709e73ed.png?v=1751094070"},{"product_id":"oorbegin-2018","title":"Oorbegin 2018","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe made 1 barrel from the grapes it produced. So here you go - this vineyard’s first crop in 25 years - a straight Chenin blanc - OORBEGIN 2018 (directly translated it means “START-OVER”, referring to a new beginning for the vineyard.)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2 Years ago I 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\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\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\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\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\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\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\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\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. So here you go - this vineyard’s first crop in 25 years - a straight Chenin blanc - OORBEGIN 2018 (directly translated it means “START-OVER”, referring to a new beginning for the vineyard.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Oorbegin 2018","offer_id":46385706926246,"sku":"4718","price":199.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Oorbegin-2018-copy-e1569073859353.png?v=1751093839"},{"product_id":"jaaa-bru-2016","title":"Jaaa-bru 2016","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\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.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe guy who farms this vineyard is way better than me at farming, and I don't have to give a lot of input. Guys like him are absolutely crucial to my business. He is a fellow surfer and has this habit of answering his phone with: “Jaaaa Bru?”. It’s South African slang and basically means “Yes, my brother?”. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo this wine is the second vintage - 100% Malbec. It grows on a slope of the Helderberg Mountain - not facing the ocean, but rather facing Stellenbosch. Malbec is a strange-looking grape when it’s ripe. When we pick, it always looks 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 larger, older French Oak barrels for less than a year.  It produces a fresh and elegant, yet complex wine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe label:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Jaaa-bru 2016","offer_id":46385723375782,"sku":"5113","price":199.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Jaa-Bru-2016-copy_3124964f-ea17-4969-a742-c4d349743ff7.png?v=1751093545"},{"product_id":"orbitofrontal-cortex-2020","title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex Magnum 2020","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThe idea behind this wine was (and still is) to select the white components in the winery we like most and to assemble a blend that represents that particular vintage in an honest and pure way. This is OUR favourite wine, not necessarily the best. The one that we as a team like the most. It is not bound to an area or varietal - it is an assembly of interesting things that differs from year to year according to whatever performed well that specific season.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\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. Once 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\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).\u003cbr\u003e\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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\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, LIMBIC 2015 - Wellington Chenin blanc, Darling Chenin blanc, Swartland Clairette blanche, Upper Hemel and Aarde Pinot Gris and Stellenbosch Viognier And ORBITO FRONTAL CORTEX 2015 - Piekenierskloof Grenache blanc, Swartland Clairette blanche, Swartland Fernão Pires, Elgin Semillon and Voor Paardeberg Verdelho. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex 2020","offer_id":46385726783654,"sku":"5633","price":660.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blankbottle-Orbitofrontal-Cortex-22.png?v=1751093879"},{"product_id":"volkop-2020","title":"LOSKOP 2020","description":"\u003cp\u003e100% Tinta Barocca from the SWARTLAND\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"LOSKOP 2020","offer_id":46385729568934,"sku":"5738","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Loskop.png?v=1748005968"},{"product_id":"confessions-of-a-white-glove-chaser-2020","title":"Confessions of a White Glove Chaser 2020","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn short, 55% Cabernet franc with 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot - all from the Helderberg\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a start, 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\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConfessions of a White Glove Chaser 2020:\u003c\/strong\u003e 55% Cabernet franc with 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot - all from the Helderberg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe label:\u003c\/strong\u003e I 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 2020","offer_id":46385729634470,"sku":"5739","price":430.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Confessions-of-a-White-Glove-Chaser-20.png?v=1751093361"},{"product_id":"the-empire-strikes-back-2021","title":"The Empire strikes back 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Empire Strikes Back - An all-STELLENBOSCH white blend of Verdelho from 2 different sites, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Chenin blanc.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\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\u003eThe Empire Strikes Back - 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 2021","offer_id":46385729896614,"sku":"5766","price":335.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-The-Empire-Strikes-Back-copy_73d81126-1830-4f32-a734-b3c0b8bb16db.png?v=1751094123"},{"product_id":"my-koffer-2021","title":"My Koffer 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThis wine articulates the work ethic of Bruno and the commitment of Carlo Suter - the Swiss rooted Breedekloof farming family. Today, 9 vintages down the line, I’m releasing the new Mykoffer 2021 - 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\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\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\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\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\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\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\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\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\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\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. Today, 9 vintages down the line, I’m releasing the new Mykoffer 2021 - 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 2021","offer_id":46385730060454,"sku":"5770","price":360.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-My-Koffer-21.png?v=1751093787"},{"product_id":"nothing-to-declare-2021","title":"Nothing to declare 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMarsanne, Grenache blanc, Grenache Gris, Viognier, Sauvignon blanc, Semillon and Weisser Riesling from Paarl, Stellenbosch, Elgin. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the olden days, before our borders were opened for regular business, some of our leading winemakers at the time travelled to wine producing areas they admired. They mostly focused on areas with similar climatical\/growing conditions to ours. Whenever they stumbled upon great wines made from varietals not grown in South Africa, they would try and get their hands on some clean plant material and (being of the less patient\/more dynamic type) simply smuggled these vines into the country.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey used various techniques, one of them being… tie it to your leg, drop your pants to cover it and walk through the NOTHING TO DECLARE section at the airport as if you have… NOTHING TO DECLARE - you know the feeling...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in SA they would then reproduce and plant little vineyards, do trials on them and plant larger ones (to state the obvious: this was completely illegal, distributing diseases being the main risk). I, however, have seen first-hand that the type of farmer who went through all the effort to do this, is almost without fail completely passionate, super psyched-up, forward-thinking farmers\/winemakers - serious producers. So they would, without a doubt, bring in clean, great quality vines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNothing to Declare is a tribute to these vine smugglers. Providing us, the new generation winemakers, the foundation to take this industry to new heights.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2012 and 2013 I made a wine that was driven by one of these illegally smuggled grape varieties. It was registered with the government as Chenin Blanc. I called it “Nothing to declare”. Since then this particular vineyard went through a process of amnesty and was now declared legal. So this wine grew from there, using that vineyard as a base and combining that with as many of the not so traditional South African varietals I have in the Winery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Label: I did a chalk drawing on the one side of one of the barrels - an image of vine cuttings tied to a man’s leg, about to be covered by his pants. After a few months, the image faded. To solidify the image, I engraved it into the wood like it was done in the olden days. So in February 2015, after bottling the first vintage, I needed a label. I bought printing ink and applied it to the surface of the carved image. I then placed a large piece of paper on it and made a print, which became the main image for the label.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Nothing to declare 2021","offer_id":46385732485286,"sku":"5800","price":295.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Nothing-to-Declare-copy-new_f3fe2a50-ba46-4a55-b945-f2e4f6475218.png?v=1751093821"},{"product_id":"kortpad-kaaptoe-skinny-2021","title":"Kortpad Kaaptoe 2-point-0 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e100% whole bunch fermented Fernao Pires a.k.a Maria Gomez PLEASE NOTE: There are 2 bottlings of Kortpad Kaaptoe!!! One with a gold label with white writing - the normal version and one with a gold label and black writing - the skinny whole bunch fermented spicy one.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn August 2011, on a farm somewhere between Darling and Hopefield on the West Coast of South Africa, I was visiting a block of grapes, Carignan. I received a SMS from someone who needed me to be in Cape Town within the next hour. Being in the middle of nowhere, I asked the farmer the quickest way to Cape Town. In Afrikaans (one of the 11 official languages of South Africa), the \"Kortpad Kaaptoe\". He said that I needed to drive towards the Carignan, past the Shiraz and Fernao Pirez....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The FERNAO WHAT???\", I asked him? \"Fernao Pirez\" he replied. Bush vines, unirrigated, planted by his grandfather 38 years before. So, on my shortest way to Cape Town (the \"kortpad kaaptoe\"), I found Fernao Pirez. A varietal I had never tasted wine of and something I never knew existed in South Africa. And that brings me to something so very important to me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI love interesting, true stories. So if I find a story like this, a bit of family history stumbled upon on my shortest route to Cape Town, I want to tell that story, disguised as a bottle of wine. So it is not ONLY about the wine. In life everything needs to be seen in context. If you take things out of context, wine becomes one dimensional and boring in a way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe label: Linocut of AC\/DC inspired font. Printed on real organics paper with as much gold bling as possible. Labels are hand-applied with old-style wet glue technique. Please note that the label will slip off the bottle when it gets wet. The label is as natural as the wine inside the bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Area:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt looks like a desert out there. The topsoil is 30cm of white sand with an iron rich subsoil we in South Africa call Koffieklip - literally translated it would mean coffee soil. It got its name from the little pebbles in the soil that look like coffee beans surrounded by a clay rich iron saturated soil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vineyard has no irrigation and it is over 40 years old with its roots deeply developed into the subsoil. For some reason the ground water level is high. I can only imagine that a shallow water vein runs through that specific section of the desert-like area, providing the deep roots a supply of water.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Kortpad Kaaptoe 2-point-0 2021","offer_id":46385733337254,"sku":"5817","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-2-point-0-21_b23ea081-229d-4eb0-9db7-790ca1c252f7.png?v=1751093633"},{"product_id":"sewejaartjie-2021","title":"Sewejaartjie 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003ea 100% Grenache noir from the foothills of the Houwhoek mountains - Botrivier. The wine is on the light side of the spectrum but still heavier than all our other Grenache. Again, a very individual expression of the Van der Stel pass.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn July 2021 Aneen and myself were sitting on the stoep of our little Botrivier breakaway pod on the foothills of the Houw Hoek Mountains in the Overberg, when all of a sudden we heard a lion roar. Botrivier is known for many wonderful things, but being home to the Big 5 is definitely not one of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pods at Kol-Kol are booked out at least a year in advance and if you’ve ever been there you’ll understand why. We, on the other hand, are on the more spontaneous side of things when it comes to having fun, so getting on any type of list is a bit problematic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in the day I bought some Tinta Barocca from Botrivier and the wine turned out to be a great showman for the area. Since then, I have been keeping my eyes open for a way back into that part of the country. Then in 2020, a late night internet-advert put me into contact with Jo, a fired-up lawyer from Cape Town who farms 2 small vineyards on his property in the Van Der Stel pass (Botrivier) at the entrance of the famous Kol-Kol Lodge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst picking the Sewejaartjie Grenache noir vineyard in 2021, Jo mentioned that if I ever needed to get onto the last minute cancellation list of Kol-Kol, I should let him know and he’ll see what he can do. And that is how we ended up on that Kruger-National-Park-soundtrack stoep. Turns out that a neighbouring farm owns a lion (as you do).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSewejaartjie - a 100% Grenache noir from that vineyard. The wine is on the light side of the spectrum but still heavier than all our other Grenache. Again, a very individual expression of the Van der Stel pass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe name Sewejaartjie: After our awesome weekend I was speaking to my UK importer Damon and it turns out that he got engaged at one of the Kol-Kol cabins named Sewejaartjie. In English, the name translates to \"The everlasting daisy\" or just “everlastings” - a famous fynbos flower found in the area that, as its name implies, lasts forever when dried and stored properly. Quite a fitting way to start a marriage I would say.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Sewejaartjie 2021","offer_id":46385733927078,"sku":"5824","price":330.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Jan-Sewejaartjie-2021_145665ec-6a10-4c3f-a26c-5a4afedcb4b8.png?v=1751094014"},{"product_id":"epileptic-inspiration-2021","title":"Epileptic Inspiration 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA single vineyard Semillon from Elgin. The wine is a combination of Amphora, old and new French oak fermented\/aged components.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Epileptic Inspiration 2013? You have no respect!\", a Swiss guy told me on a recent trip to Zurich.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the beginning of BLANKbottle, I have been designing my own labels. At first, it was because there was absolutely no way I could afford designers. I made use of Microsoft Word, typed BLANKbottle, placed it into a block and played around with the colours - no designing skills required at all. And, to be honest, for the first 10 years I actually didn't like my labels much (besides maybe the honesty of it). Every year, I would again have to fight off the desire to employ professional label designers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of you who don't know this: I started having Epilepsy at the age of 30. Then in November 2013, whilst not on medication, I had another huge epileptic fit (the second one ever). So the Dr booked me off driving and surfing, yet again. When I have a fit, what happens to me at first is that I forget everything. My long term memory returns quite soon thereafter (within hours), but I find that my short term analytical memory takes about 2-3 months to return - if at all... \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd this is how I started to design my new labels for the 2013 wines. I could not look at the computer due to the flickering screen. So I started making use of scissors, paint, Lino, pencil and old paper. And the result: I think I had a breakthrough in design, inspiration of Epileptic proportions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo the drawing and design of my own labels came as a direct result of my epilepsy. And here’s the strange part which I cannot prove - I believe that something in my brain changed due to epilepsy. Before epilepsy I had no skill or desire to draw paint etc. Now I still don’t have the skill, but at least I like my labels! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Epileptic Inspiration 2021","offer_id":46385734287526,"sku":"6151","price":320.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Epileptic-Inspiration-copy_76d60e9c-0798-4010-9e14-a51764d7ff4b.png?v=1751093424"},{"product_id":"jan-niemand-2022","title":"Jan Niemand 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThis is a 100% Elgin Riesling. This wine sold out so quickly I haven't even had a chance to do a complete write-up... If you want to know the story, click below on the voice recording and take a listen.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IhPtFIOeW4k?si=hK9_NvM2gznCGOCX\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Jan Niemand 2022","offer_id":46385734844582,"sku":"6676","price":325.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Jan-Niemand-2022.png?v=1751093566"},{"product_id":"smaug-the-magnificent-2021","title":"Smaug the Magnificent 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eLike with most great things in life - this wine originated with a really bad experience where the liquor board stopped the sales of the 2011 vintage. A blend of Roussanne, Grenache blanc, Marsanne, Verdelho and Grenache Gris.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow it all started back in 2011:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the back of my warehouse, way into the corner, I have what I call The Drinking Stash. This is where you would want to be left unsupervised if there was any specific sold-out BLANKBOTTLE wine you liked. The last 24 bottles of almost every wine I produce go there (except the ones I over-sell by mistake and end up having to buy a bottle back from my agents overseas).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, in that drinking stash you would for instance find wines like the very first bottling of Moment of Silence (2007). Whenever I drink an older white like that I am blown away by the ability of South African whites to age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2011, I bottled a white wine - a blend of Roussanne, Chenin blanc, Verdelho and Palomino. In South Africa, all wines have to go to the regulatory board\/control agency after bottling, where they go through 3 checks. Firstly they check the paper trail to confirm that what’s in the bottle is what you claim it to be. They then analyse the wine for all sorts of much-too-complicated-to-explain stuff and it finally gets tasted by a board of winemakers who then approves or rejects the wine for export.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis specific wine, the 2011 vintage, was initially approved. After a year the approval expired and at that stage I still had at least 500 bottles to sell. I then had to re-submit, which I did, but at that point the wine was rejected by the tasting board. Now, you have the option to appeal, but at the time, I had much more pressing issues on my plate, so I transferred the bin towards my drinking stash to deal with later.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the years went by, I would grab a bottle to drink at home every once in a while, and each time I opened a bottle, I liked it more. November 2016, 5 years after bottling, I showed my UK agents the wine. They loved it and wanted to buy it all. So I took a chance and re-submitted the wine to the board - it was approved! I then urgently needed a label for the wine, I mean, a sale is a sale…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy son Luca drew a picture of the dragon of Lord of the Rings, “Smaug the Magnificent\". So I made him an offer: a retainer per bottle I sell in exchange for the use of his sketch. He accepted and I released a 5 year old white blend with super success!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Smaug the Magnificent 2021","offer_id":46385736319142,"sku":"6712","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Smaug-the-Magnificent-copy-e1570509634748_6979be59-bef4-403f-8bb4-b518a3c54704.png?v=1751094049"},{"product_id":"orbitofrontal-cortex-2022","title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex 2022","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.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX - named after the part of your brain where conscious decisions are made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story behind the origin of ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX 2016:\u003c\/p\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\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\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\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\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!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe 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…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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 2022","offer_id":46385736351910,"sku":"6715","price":320.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Orbit-of-Frontal-Cortex-2023-copy.png?v=1751093883"},{"product_id":"the-empire-strikes-back-2022","title":"The Empire Strikes Back 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThe Empire Strikes Back - An all-STELLENBOSCH white blend of Verdelho from two different sites, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Chenin Blanc.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\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\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 in recent 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 2022","offer_id":46385736482982,"sku":"6729","price":325.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-The-Empire-Strikes-Back-copy.png?v=1751094125"},{"product_id":"smaug-the-magnificent-2022","title":"Smaug the Magnificent 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eLike with most great things in life - this wine originated with a really bad experience where the liquor board stopped the sales of the 2011 vintage. A blend of Grenache blanc, Verdelho, Grenache Gris and other bits and pieces...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow it all started back in 2011:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the back of my warehouse, way into the corner, I have what I call The Drinking Stash. This is where you would want to be left unsupervised if there was any specific sold-out BLANKBOTTLE wine you liked. The last 24 bottles of almost every wine I produce go there (except the ones I over-sell by mistake and end up having to buy a bottle back from my agents overseas).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, in that drinking stash you would for instance find wines like the very first bottling of Moment of Silence (2007). Whenever I drink an older white like that I am blown away by the ability of South African whites to age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2011, I bottled a white wine - a blend of Roussanne, Chenin blanc, Verdelho and Palomino. In South Africa, all wines have to go to the regulatory board\/control agency after bottling, where they go through 3 checks. Firstly they check the paper trail to confirm that what’s in the bottle is what you claim it to be. They then analyse the wine for all sorts of much-too-complicated-to-explain stuff and it finally gets tasted by a board of winemakers who then approves or rejects the wine for export.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis specific wine, the 2011 vintage, was initially approved. After a year the approval expired and at that stage I still had at least 500 bottles to sell. I then had to re-submit, which I did, but at that point the wine was rejected by the tasting board.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow, you have the option to appeal, but at the time, I had much more pressing issues on my plate, so I transferred the bin towards my drinking stash to deal with later. As the years went by, I would grab a bottle to drink at home every once in a while, and each time I opened a bottle, I liked it more. November 2016, 5 years after bottling, I showed my UK agents the wine. They loved it and wanted to buy it all. So I took a chance and re-submitted the wine to the board - it was approved! I then urgently needed a label for the wine, I mean, a sale is a sale… My son Luca drew a picture of the dragon of Lord of the Rings, “Smaug the Magnificent\". So I made him an offer: a retainer per bottle I sell in exchange for the use of his sketch. He accepted and I released a 5 year old white blend with super success!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Smaug the Magnificent 2022","offer_id":46385736646822,"sku":"6731","price":325.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Smaug-the-Magnificent-copy.png?v=1751094052"},{"product_id":"retirement65-2022","title":"Retirement @ 65 2022","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eWhen it came to the harvest of 2022, we decided to pick the Shiraz component a bit earlier than usual. The result: a wine that turned out to be a bit lighter and more perfumy. It compliments the finer aromas of the Cinsaut and amplifies freshness, adding great length. We were therefore able to add much more Shiraz to the blend than ever before - 44% Shiraz and 56% Cinsaut.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2Q5oifE7acE\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\n\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\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\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:image --\u003e\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/gallery.mailchimp.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/_compresseds\/168c661f-4277-4250-bfdd-b4b8cf8f9e17.jpg\"\u003e\u003c\/figure\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:image --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\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: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\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 2022","offer_id":46385736712358,"sku":"6732","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Retirement-at-65-2016-copy.png?v=1751093976"},{"product_id":"jimmy-2022","title":"Jimmy 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEvery once in a while you find a vineyard that is truly special. But for a small producer, it’s often impossible to buy the whole vineyard due to the size of the production, so you are forced to share. Jimmy is 100% Verdelho from a few rows of a really big vineyard in the Voor-Paardeberg.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA couple of decades ago a guy called Polla Brand drove the first Suzuki Jimny into South Africa from Namibia. The car ended up with a family member on a farm in the Voor Paardeberg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCome winter, the other vehicles struggled in the mud and slippery clay but the Suzuki, with its short wheelbase, cruised through really difficult terrain. Immediately gaining respect. From then on, the farmer, his son and his grandson (the current farmer) only drives Suzuki 4x4’s on the farm. The current farmer also happens to be the Western Cape champion, racing in the Dunes along the West Coast of South Africa - with his little hyped-up supercharged Suzuki - hence the inspiration for the label.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVerdelho is a really interesting variety to farm with in South Africa. It loves heat and has this unique characteristic of maintaining high acid levels in really ripe conditions. This is a variety that you need to keep an eye on during harvest. It gains sugar at an immense rate with the challenge of picking it before it gets too ripe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Jimmy 2022","offer_id":46385737564326,"sku":"6734","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Jimny-2016-copy-e1569507867846_2e9c94b4-ee57-4a26-9457-9406a69a0d0d.png?v=1751093589"},{"product_id":"tbc-name-to-be-confirmed-non-vintage-2","title":"TBC - To be Confirmed (Non-Vintage)","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTBC is a straight, single-vineyard Viognier. It is non-vintage which means that all the wine in the bottle is not from the same vintage. We picked the vineyard in two sections in 2021 - the first picking on a relatively low sugar and a second picking as a riper component. A combination of the two pickings make up 50% of the blend and were aged for 2 years in older French Oak barrels. The other 50% of the wine was an early picking of the same vineyard the following year (2022) which spent one year in barrel. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSometimes, very inconveniently, the name and label of a wine just doesn’t happen when it’s supposed to. With the first vintage of this wine in 2018 that was exactly the case and subsequently, for quite some time, I just referred to it as TBC on my price list - Name to be confirmed.  One of my distributors, fed-up of waiting for the name to be confirmed, eventually said; “Why don’t you just call it TBC?!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo TBC it was, but a label? At the time it was my youngest son's 7th birthday party and he wanted me to build him a leopard cake - in 3D of course… To shape a leopard body is doable (I’ve had some practice… 3 kids 6,10 and 13 at the time made it 29 practice rounds in total), but a head of a leopard is beyond my scope of expertise. So, I took his teddy bear and applied paper mache to his head. After it dried I removed the bear shaped head and painted it as the head of a leopard. I fitted it to the leopard shaped cake body and my 7 year old was happy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I was under pressure to produce a label for TBC, this leopard head happened to be lying on my desk. No time left for inspiration to strike, I painted a background on a piece of paper, threw the paper mache head on it, took a picture with my iPhone and whalla!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"TBC - To be Confirmed (Non-Vintage)","offer_id":46385737629862,"sku":"6832","price":240.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-A-copy-e1569070564614_460e1f51-817c-4f60-b4ce-c1b0709e73ed.png?v=1751094070"},{"product_id":"isa-42-2021","title":"ISA-42 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eIn short this is a 100% Merlot from the Helderberg - Stellenbosch. The resurrection of one of the first BLANKBOTTLE wines - in its original uniform.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first ever troop to proudly display the ever-so-simple original gangster BLANKBOTTLE badge of identity, was a wine called 343. The label was a simple, gray font backed by a humble, self adhesive small sticker.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn those early foundation-laying years of BLANKBOTTLE we played around with Merlot quite a bit. I then took a 10 year Merlot sabbatical, but the varietal’s been bugging me throughout. I like the power but then… I do like finesse. Not easy to find in South Africa. In 2020 the penny finally dropped. I realized that whenever I liked one, it came from a vineyard that grows in weathered granitic soil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not as if you can taste the weathered granite in the wine. Weathered granite is lighter soil with very little clay content - therefore well-drained, warmer marginal soil which results in harsher growing conditions. Conditions the farmer needs to manage carefully - and THAT is what you taste in the wine: a coalition of soil and viticulture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2020 I found it. High on the Helderberg, on the border of Somerset West - full-on weathered granite. This is the 2021 vintage of BLANKBOTTLE ISA-42 - a solid, structured and serious expression.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI decided to go with the original packaging! The little black number!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"ISA-42 2021","offer_id":46385737695398,"sku":"6860","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-copy_796b35fd-e5d0-47c4-8661-bb461580a02a.png?v=1751093533"},{"product_id":"engelesig-2021","title":"Engelesig 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is a new wine, I still have to do the write-up. But in short, it is a Cab\/Cab Franc from a little farm called Angels View, Helderberg - home to singer song writer Lesley Rae Dowling. For now, I did a quick voice recording. Click below and listen.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Engelesig 2021","offer_id":46385737760934,"sku":"6862","price":390.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Engelesic-2021.png?v=1751093399"},{"product_id":"pierre-le-cois-2021","title":"PIERRE LE COIS 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThe X-factor - The PIERRE-LE-COIS-EFFECT as I call it. The guy and nowadays often, the girl in the bakkie. The eyes who look holistically at the big picture and apply knowledge and experience within the comfort of like minded wise minds - enabling the application of practices to guide these vines to the ultimate expression of themselves. Season upon season.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"PIERRE LE COIS 2021","offer_id":46385737826470,"sku":"6864","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Pierre-Le-Cois-21_c54a7113-930e-4c6f-835c-fe75aa150eac.png?v=1751093905"},{"product_id":"but-why-2021","title":"But Why 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003e100% Ceres Plateaux Cabernet Sauvignon. 735 meters above sea level in the heart of the \"Koue Bokkeveld\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWay back, midway through harvest 2015, a friend showed up at the Winery carrying two Pick\u0026amp;Pay bags filled with ripe grapes. Each bag contained a representative sample of a vineyard. “Do you want to buy this?” he asked. “What's the story?” I threw the question back at him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/ae81d170-3ad7-d262-f347-f9d946d0549b.png\" width=\"580\" height=\"184\" align=\"center\" data-file-id=\"6441048\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis answer intrigued me: both vineyards were planted as un-grafted vines 750 meters above sea-level in decomposed sandstone in the Koue Bokkeveld - on the Ceres Plateau… Now planting Shiraz in the mountains made sense, but my first words when he told me the other bag contained Cabernet Sauvignon were: “\u003cstrong\u003eBUT WHY\u003c\/strong\u003e would anybody think of planting Cabernet so high above sea-level?”. Normally height above sea-level equals cool temperatures during ripening and it’s common knowledge that the biggest challenge for Cabernet producers are unripe, green tannins. But, what the heck! I thought the story was great and for the first time ever I committed to making wine from vineyards I had never set eyes on. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday we know a lot more. What I did not know back in 2015 was that the site’s radiation levels (intensity of sunlight) were off-the-charts high, not the temperature... the sunlight! You know when you are standing on a snow-covered slope high on the Alps in Switzerland? On a clear day the sunlight is warm and intense but the temperatures are still low. Same thing.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCombine these conditions with very cold night temperatures and you get a longer hang time (the time the grapes spend attached to the vine). It slowly accumulates sugar while absorbing massive amounts of sunlight, and sunlight is what ripens. And when we pick in early April, the grapes have moderate sugar levels, ripe tannins and high acids.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBUT WHY 2021\u003c\/strong\u003e - to show the world EXACTLY WHY there happened to be Cabernet Sauvignon planted at 750m above sea-level on the Ceres Plateau.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e(By the way: the grapes from the first bag became arguably our most famous vineyard - Little William)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"But Why 2021","offer_id":46385737990310,"sku":"6934","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-But-Why-1_936ca986-32e0-4b2c-907b-2cc7a3df1246.png?v=1751093335"},{"product_id":"empire-2021","title":"EMPIRE 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe red brother of Empire Strikes Back is EMPIRE - not striking back but just being himself. With Cabernet Sauvignon as driver and bits of Merlot and Cabernet Franc to compliment. The old style design label shows a combination crest. I combined the crest of Stellenbosch University and Elsenburg College - The 2 Empires when it comes to wine education - I studied at both...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\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\u003eJust for the record - I am a huge fan of Swartland white blends. The 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStellenbosch, 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. So 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 with a blend of an all-Stellenbosch Verdelho, Pinot blanc, Sauvignon blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Viognier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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\n\u003cp\u003eAnd the red brother of Empire Strikes Back is EMPIRE - not striking back but just being himself. With Cabernet Sauvignon as driver and bits of Merlot and Cabernet franc to compliment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe old style design label shows a combination crest. I combined the crest of Stellenbosch University and Elsenburg College - The 2 Empires when it comes to wine education - I studied at both...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"EMPIRE 2021","offer_id":46385738154150,"sku":"6935","price":390.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Empire-21.png?v=1751093397"},{"product_id":"master-of-none-2022","title":"Master of None 2022","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was one late November evening in 2017, when my then-assistant Julia and myself were blending the initial vintage of Master of None 2017 - and it was no minor feat I can tell you. Master of None is any mixologists’ dream. The 2022 vintage is a blend of no less than 11 cultivars from 8 different wine regions:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- PIEKENIERSKLOOF - Palomino and Grenache noir.\u003cbr\u003e- DARLING - Cinsaut.\u003cbr\u003e- WALKER BAY - Grenache noir.\u003cbr\u003e- WELLINGTON - Grenache noir.\u003cbr\u003e- BREEDEKLOOF - Cinsaut.\u003cbr\u003e- STELLENBOSCH - Chenin blanc, Pinot noir, Verdelho and Chardonnay.\u003cbr\u003e- SWARTLAND - Verdelho, Chenin Blanc and Fernão Pires.\u003cbr\u003e- And finally, for some spice, a very very little bit of ELGIN Weisser Riesling, Semillon and Sauvignon blanc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith 75% of the wine comprising of lighter-in-style reds, the baseline of the wine is on the lighter side of life. It's very much still a RED wine in my eyes, but the contribution of the whites to the mid palate is what makes this wine special. You can expect a chilled red that is going to entertain your guests all the way from the swimming pool right through to the main dish where it can hand over the baton to a more suitable contestant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Story of Master of None.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we were sitting there that night in 2017, we were discussing the contents of a very controversial article that had just come out. It was written by a UK wine critic. He was very concerned about this BLANKBOTTLE winery; how could they be making more than 40 different wines in all styles imaginable? He was of FIRM opinion that, in the wine world, one needs to specialise. That you have to choose a direction regarding wine style and stick to it - dissect and improve until the day you die.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the most part, I agree with him. 99% of wineries own the land they cultivate their grapes on. I, however, started making wine in my friend’s garage. I don’t own land and am therefore not bound to a specific area.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith “MASTER OF NONE” we acknowledge that viewpoints differ. We tell stories of places and people, to inspire and entertain. We might be a “Master of None” in the eyes of the guy steering that specific pen. But from our perspective, we find ourselves in the privileged position of exploring all that South Africa has to offer. To discover, dissect and improve on so many levels for so many years to come.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll the best, hou vas...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Master of None 2022","offer_id":46385738219686,"sku":"6936","price":320.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Master-of-None-22.png?v=1751093699"},{"product_id":"im-hinterhofkabuff-2022","title":"Im Hinterhofkabuff 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis vineyard is something really special to me as well as the Farmer, Andre van Wyk. 100% Elgin Weisser Riesling. It has a firm acidity - the 2012 drinking beautifully at the moment. My aim is not to imitate German-style Rieslings - we try to capture the South African sunlight in this wine…\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome of my German clients think that the \"branding\" of \"IM HINTERHOFKABUFF\" was neatly thought through, specially and specifically designed to enter and crack the German wine market for BLANKbottle. And yes, the fact that I called the wine a dialect\/regional\/nickname sort of German name does make the wine sell in Germany. But the truth is that I cannot take credit for it at all, I am just not all that strategical. The truth is: it fell in my lap.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarly in 2010, a journalist writing for a huge German magazine called the \"Stern\" phoned me. He was writing an article on South African wineries to visit, aiming it at touring soccer world cup fans. At the time and still today my office is located next to my winery in a very old dilapidated barn type of building. When I moved in I transferred the run down barn into a personal office\/lounge with a nice Friday braai facility at the back. No flags, no signage, no fountains - just a run down building with skew walls and heaps of soul.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI told that very persistent German journalist that he could not meet me at the office, that we should rather try a coffee shop. It's much nicer.  As you know, some people don't take no for an answer, and he was one of them. So he came out to the farm, loved all of it and spent almost 3 hours with me tasting wine and taking pictures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree months later my sister-in-law living in Switzerland phoned me to say that there was a massive article on South African wineries in the Stern and that BLANKbottle featured. So she emailed me the article and with the help of family I started to decipher the article. This guy kept on using the word HINTERHOFKABUFF whenever he referred to my office. So I looked it up. In old Berlin, Germany, a typical residential property would have a main house where the owner lived, and then had a sort of second house at the back called the HINTERHOF where a second family would live.  And at the back of the HINTERHOF they usually had a KABUFF. Which was a little garden sort of shack-house for the very poor people to live in. So the direct translation of HINTERHOFKABUFF - BACKYARDSHACK...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI took an immediate liking to the name and my mom made a sign for my office. \"The Hinterhofkabuff\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo when I made my first Weisser Riesling, a varietal that originated in the Rhine Valley Germany - it was logical to find a proper German name for it. Hence: Im Hinterhofkabuff!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Im Hinterhofkabuff 2022","offer_id":46385738383526,"sku":"6950","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Mr-Hinterhofkabuff-copy_46fb4ab7-ea8b-4356-ae3c-2b1aa0844d5f.png?v=1751093520"},{"product_id":"kortpad-kaaptoe-2-point-0-2022","title":"Kortpad Kaaptoe 2.Point.0 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e100% whole bunch fermented Fernao Pires a.k.a Maria Gomez PLEASE NOTE: There are 2 bottlings of Kortpad Kaaptoe!!! One with a gold label with white writing - the normal version and one with a gold label and black writing - the skinny whole-bunch fermented spicy one.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn August 2011, on a farm somewhere between Darling and Hopefield on the West Coast of South Africa, I was visiting a block of grapes, Carignan. I received a SMS from someone who needed me to be in Cape Town within the next hour. Being in the middle of nowhere, I asked the farmer the quickest way to Cape Town. In Afrikaans (one of the 11 official languages of South Africa), the \"Kortpad Kaaptoe\". He said that I needed to drive towards the Carignan, past the Shiraz and Fernao Pirez....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The FERNAO WHAT???\", I asked him? \"Fernao Pirez\" he replied. Bush vines, unirrigated, planted by his grandfather 38 years before. So, on my shortest way to Cape Town (the \"kortpad kaaptoe\"), I found Fernao Pirez. A varietal I had never tasted wine of and something I never knew existed in South Africa. And that brings me to something so very important to me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI love interesting, true stories. So if I find a story like this, a bit of family history stumbled upon on my shortest route to Cape Town, I want to tell that story, disguised as a bottle of wine. So it is not ONLY about the wine. In life everything needs to be seen in context. If you take things out of context, wine becomes one dimensional and boring in a way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe label: Linocut of AC\/DC inspired font. Printed on real organics paper with as much gold bling as possible. Labels are hand-applied with old-style wet glue technique. Please note that the label will slip off the bottle when it gets wet. The label is as natural as the wine inside the bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe area\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt looks like a desert out there. The topsoil is 30cm of white sand with an iron rich subsoil we in South Africa call Koffieklip - literally translated it would mean coffee soil. It got its name from the little pebbles in the soil that look like coffee beans surrounded by a clay rich iron saturated soil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vineyard has no irrigation and it is over 40 years old with its roots deeply developed into the subsoil. For some reason the ground water level is high. I can only imagine that a shallow water vein runs through that specific section of the desert-like area, providing the deep roots a supply of water.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Kortpad Kaaptoe 2.Point.0 2022","offer_id":46385738449062,"sku":"6963","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-2-point-0-21.png?v=1751093605"},{"product_id":"the-bomb-2021","title":"The BOMB 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eA heavyweight Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot blend. The Cabernet Sauvignon and the Petit Verdot grow on the Helderberg facing the Stellenbosch mountain in the Blaauwklippen valley.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis wine started way back - I bottled a straight 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon from a friend’s farm. The wine was big, but I loved it. After bottling, the Department of Agriculture came back with the final analysis. An alcohol of 16.14% - GOODNESS?!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI stacked the wine in the back of the warehouse, not sure what to do with it. I then had a tasting at the Hinterhofkabuff with a German guy called Martin Baulmann, who subsequently became my agent in Germany. We tasted all my wines and at the end he asked me if I had something big for him to taste. \"How do you mean; BIG?\", I asked. \"In colour, extraction, tannin?...\".\" Like in 15% alcohol...\", he replied. \"I think I have something even better for you\" I said.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo I opened a still unlabelled bottle and poured him a glass of what I was planning to name Midnight Call. He loved it and wanted to buy everything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of you who do not know Martin: He has a big frame, laughs loudly, and lives large. So afterwards I sat in the Hinterhofkabuff drinking a glass, thinking of this very big guy that loved this very loud wine. It seemed natural to change the name to THE BOMB.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"The BOMB 2021","offer_id":46385738645670,"sku":"7139","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-The-Bomb-2018-copy-LR_03a92d46-83f9-4f69-9f08-72fcba5bb96e.png?v=1751094099"},{"product_id":"epileptic-inspiration-2022","title":"Epileptic Inspiration 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA single vineyard Semillon from Elgin. The wine is a combination of Amphora, old and new French oak fermented\/aged components.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Epileptic Inspiration 2013? You have no respect!\", a Swiss guy told me on a trip to Zurich.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the beginning of BLANKbottle, I have been designing my own labels. At first, it was because there was absolutely no way I could afford designers. I made use of Microsoft Word, typed BLANKbottle, placed it into a block and played around with the colours - no designing skills required at all. And, to be honest, for the first 10 years I actually didn't like my labels much (besides maybe the honesty of it). Every year, I would again have to fight off the desire to employ professional label designers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of you who don't know this: I started having Epilepsy at the age of 30. Then in November 2013, whilst not on medication, I had another huge epileptic fit (the second one ever). So the Dr booked me off driving and surfing, yet again. When I have a fit, what happens to me at first is that I forget everything. My long term memory returns quite soon thereafter (within hours), but I find that my short term analytical memory takes a lot longer to return - if at all... \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd this is how I started to design my new labels for the 2013 wines. I could not look at the computer due to the flickering screen. So I started making use of scissors, paint, Lino, pencil and old paper. And the result: I think I had a breakthrough in design, inspiration of Epileptic proportions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo the drawing and design of my own labels came as a direct result of my epilepsy. And here’s the strange part which I cannot prove - I believe that something in my brain changed due to epilepsy. Before epilepsy I had no skill or desire to draw paint etc. Now I still don’t have the skill, but at least I like my labels! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Epileptic Inspiration 2022","offer_id":46385738711206,"sku":"7167","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Epileptic-Inspiration-copy_8894ef30-cf5b-4fa4-a991-0de12114871c.png?v=1751093427"},{"product_id":"pat-bird-2021","title":"Pat Bird 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eA 100% Stellenbosch Petit Verdot.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe story:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in 2017, Theo-Donald (TD), a filmmaker and lifelong fellow surfer from the Strand, approached me to see if he could possibly film me for something short, wine related. I wasn't sure if I was his guy, but I invited him to jump into my bakkie. 3 years and plenty of km's later he got out of the bakkie with a 30-min documentary about BLANKBOTTLE called EPILEPTIC INSPIRATION on a memory stick.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome filmmakers from the US had heard of the film and stopped by the cellar. They watched it and before you could say “Yank”, my winery was full of them. They wanted to do business…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne month later Theo-Donald and I were sitting on a plane to Hollywood - all expenses paid. Arriving at the airport in Los Angeles, a girl in an orange Jeep picked us up. It was ours to drive while there. The next 5 days were crazy. I could write a book… Their idea was to show the film to various investors and role players in Hollywood, promoting the possibility of a wine-related series with Epileptic Inspiration as the pilot program.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust to warm up we screened the film in their film studio in downtown LA. The next morning we surfed Malibu on longboards and then a whirlwind of events coincided with insider local connections to all. Not really my cup of tea, but \"what the heck!\" I thought - while in LA, do as they do.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe saw a live recording of Idols, attended a proper American house party (plastic cups, pink drinks and all) and surfed a bucket list surf break called Trestles in San Clemente. We ate at great restaurants and celebrity hangout private clubs, met loads and loads of big money investor producers and, of course, a fair amount of desperate actors looking\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/1454fb87-8e4a-b8d1-999a-629ce9b58726.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"420\" data-file-id=\"6476248\" style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003efor a gap to start a c\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eareer in cele\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003ebrity-ism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e Besides the fact that I surfed Trestles, my 2 personal highlights of the trip were screenings of our film at a venue on the most famous Hollywood street - Sunset Boulevard - and another screening at a private residence in Beverly Hills - and I mean the hills of Beverly hills - proper. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eJames, my importer from Chicago, jumped on a plane to come help protect our BLANKBOTTLE business interests in a country with WAY different value systems when it comes to hardcore business deals. After the first negotiations we dubbed him B-2 bomber (could also have been a nice name for the wine). Which brings me to PAT BIRD.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e Every time a screening ended, everybody in the room would approach me to chat. What nobody of course realised, was that TD was the man behind the camera, and as a result he got very little attention. B-2 Bomber also went undetected, just circling the scene. Now TD’s uncle is a keen movie man, but he had one weakness - names; with his most famous faux pas calling Brad Pitt, PAT BIRD. It was at one of these screenings when TD started calling me PAT BIRD and of course it stuck. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eFor years B-2 Bomber (my American agent) had been bugging me to make a 100% Petit Verdot - one of his all time favourite varieties. So a few years later, I saw it fit to call this Helderberg Petit Verdot PAT BIRD. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eThe label is a spray-painted outline of Pat, TD and B2 Bomber on a Hollywood star - inspired by a picture taken of us at the private residence Beverly Hills spot. The wine - The Syrah of Bordeaux varietals. Perfumy and fresh, produced from 2 different sites. A super lower-Helderberg, decomposed granite property combined with a heavier, more extracted site in the Blaauwklippen Valley.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Pat Bird 2021","offer_id":46385738776742,"sku":"7168","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Pat-Bird-copy_329a7ab0-82de-4d0d-8ed7-c3efae97f5b5.png?v=1751093893"},{"product_id":"sewejaartjie-2022","title":"Sewejaartjie 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA 100% Grenache noir from the foothills of the Houwhoek mountains - Botrivier. The wine is on the light side of the spectrum but still heavier than all our other Grenache. Again, a very individual expression of the Van der Stel pass.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn July 2021 Aneen and myself were sitting on the stoep of our little Botrivier breakaway pod on the foothills of the Houw Hoek Mountains in the Overberg, when all of a sudden we heard a lion roar. Botrivier is known for many wonderful things, but being home to the Big 5 is definitely not one of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pods at Kol-Kol are booked out at least a year in advance and if you’ve ever been there you’ll understand why. We, on the other hand, are on the more spontaneous side of things when it comes to having fun, so getting on any type of list is a bit problematic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in the day I bought some Tinta Barocca from Botrivier and the wine turned out to be a great showman for the area. Since then, I have been keeping my eyes open for a way back into that part of the country. Then in 2020, a late night internet-advert put me into contact with Jo, a fired-up lawyer from Cape Town who farms 2 small vineyards on his property in the Van Der Stel pass (Botrivier) at the entrance of the famous Kol-Kol Lodge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst picking the Sewejaartjie Grenache noir vineyard in 2021, Jo mentioned that if I ever needed to get onto the last minute cancellation list of Kol-Kol, I should let him know and he’ll see what he can do. And that is how we ended up on that Kruger-National-Park-soundtrack stoep. Turns out that a neighbouring farm owns a lion (as you do).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSewejaartjie - a 100% Grenache noir from that vineyard. The wine is on the light side of the spectrum but still heavier than all our other Grenache. Again, a very individual expression of the Van der Stel pass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe name Sewejaartjie: After our awesome weekend I was speaking to my UK importer Damon and it turns out that he got engaged at one of the Kol-Kol cabins named Sewejaartjie. In English, the name translates to \"The everlasting daisy\" or just “everlastings” - a famous fynbos flower found in the area that, as its name implies, lasts forever when dried and stored properly. Quite a fitting way to start a marriage I would say.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Sewejaartjie 2022","offer_id":46385738875046,"sku":"7170","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Jan-Sewejaartjie-2021_145665ec-6a10-4c3f-a26c-5a4afedcb4b8.png?v=1751094014"},{"product_id":"b-i-g-2021","title":"B.I.G. 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet franc. The name B.I.G. does not refer to the style of the wine but to the magnitude of the blend. This wine represents Bordeaux from South Africa. The first vintage of this wine was in 2015 and it had six vineyards in the final blend, all Cabernet Sauvignons from different heights above sea level. The blend varies from year to year. Each year I adjust the label accordingly. The label shows a landscape and identifies all the vineyards that went into the final wine. The closest vineyard to the ocean is 3km and the furthest 3 hours drive.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Swartland Revolution was exactly that: a revolution initiated by Swartland farmers which turned the premium wine market upside down. Suddenly premium higher-priced Bordeaux-style Stellenbosch wines had to share the stage with premium Rhone-style Swartland blends. And so it happened then, that for the past 8 years, the media stuck Cabernet Sauvignon in a dark and dusty corner - not “cool” enough.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs some of you might know, at the moment I make wine from 30 varieties. I thought it a bright idea to do something for the neglected, fallen-from-grace Cabernet Sauvignon. I subsequently identified vineyards with vastly different heights above sea level: 7 near Somerset West (at 32 to 391 m), 2 on the outskirts of Tulbagh (both at 310 m) and 2 in the Witzenberg’s Koue Bokkeveld (at 734 and 755m).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen I first started speaking to the masters of Cabernet here at the Southernmost tip of Africa, the first thing mentioned by most was the dreaded Greenness in Cabernet Sauvignon - a very unwelcome herbaceous \/ vegetative character. This develops due to high levels of Pyrazines present in the wine - something that's determined by the ripeness level of the grapes. The longer the grape bunches get exposed to sunlight during the growing period, the less Pyrazines - resulting in less greenness in the end product - reducing herbaceousness and amplifying fruit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere in South Africa we have a unique situation: although we have plenty of sunshine, it is hot and dry. In most instances, by the time the grapes are ripe for picking, it hasn't had long enough sun exposure for the Pyrazines to get to an acceptable level. And if you leave it on the vine for longer, the sugar level gets too high. These sugars are then transformed during fermentation into alcohol resulting in rather high alcoholic wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo in general, Cabernet creators are in fact chased by the Green Monster. Defended by some, feared by most. What confuses me, though, is that one could argue that this greenness is a stylistic characteristic of wines closer to the ocean, which makes it acceptable. Or does it? Where the exact point lies where herbaceousness turns into greenness - I am not sure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat’s why I decided to make a Cabernet Sauvignon led blend and identified 9 vineyards from different heights above sea levels. The closest vineyard to the ocean is 3km and the furthest 3 hours drive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe made them all separately and aged them all in French oak for one and a half years - picked mainly when we thought the grapes tasted best. Interestingly enough, the first vineyard on the Helderberg ripened in late February whereas the last vineyard in Ceres Plateau (about 3 hours drive from the first) reached optimum ripeness on 22 April - 100 days into harvest and also the very last grapes to hit the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"B.I.G. 2021","offer_id":46385738940582,"sku":"7262","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-BIG-copy.png?v=1751093249"},{"product_id":"kortpad-kaaptoe-2023","title":"Kortpad Kaaptoe 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\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\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E8DycJPJzRs?si=PgyQQhiABb4e6OWA\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eFernão WWHHAATTT\u003c\/em\u003eT\u003cem\u003e?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e was my first thought. To understand the remoteness of this site, I invite you to go to Google maps and connect the location points of 3 towns: Malmesbury, 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 left 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. Picture 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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 style=\"margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: left;\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/631034d9-45ce-d111-7ada-35bb160f6610.jpg\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis wine was pressed as whole bunches and fermented spontaneously in older oak barrels. A year on the lees and voila!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe other name for the cultivar is Maria Gomes! Beautiful names! It 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… Don’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 2023","offer_id":46385738973350,"sku":"7662","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-2023.png?v=1751093625"},{"product_id":"seelug-2023","title":"Seelug 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA fresh, elegantly oaked, limey and delicious Chardonnay - more to the serious side of things. Read the story or listen to the voice note below.\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\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst things first - some relevant terminologies:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOff-shore wind - air movement off-the-shore, into-the-ocean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn-shore wind - air movement from-the-ocean, onto-the-shore.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChop\/wit pertjies\/white horses - Little waves produced by long distance air movement over large expanses of open ocean surfaces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSampling - The picking of random grape berries from a vineyard in order to get a representable sample to determine ripeness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeelug - 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGlancing 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI 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… So 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA fresh, elegantly oaked, limey and delicious Chardonnay - more to the serious side of things.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Seelug 2023","offer_id":46385739038886,"sku":"7768","price":395.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Seelug-copy_f16d2b66-9cd8-46a8-b777-7dfb998266d7.png?v=1751094235"},{"product_id":"white-glove-chaser-2022","title":"Confessions of a White Glove Chaser 2022","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 2022","offer_id":46385739399334,"sku":"7897","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/BlankBottleConfessionsofaWhiteGloveChaser2022.png?v=1753086209"},{"product_id":"jaa-bru-2023","title":"Jaa-Bru 2023","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 2023","offer_id":46385739497638,"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":"engelesig-2022","title":"Engelesig 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThis is a Cab\/Cab Franc from a little farm called Angels View, Helderberg - home to singer songwriter Lesley Rae Dowling.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Engelesig 2022","offer_id":46385739759782,"sku":"7899","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Engelsig-2022.png?v=1751093403"},{"product_id":"but-why-2022","title":"But Why 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003e100% Ceres Plateaux Cabernet Sauvignon. 735 meters above sea level in the heart of the \"Koue Bokkeveld\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWay back, midway through harvest 2015, a friend showed up at the Winery carrying two Pick\u0026amp;Pay bags filled with ripe grapes. Each bag contained a representative sample of a vineyard. “Do you want to buy this?” he asked. “What's the story?” I threw the question back at him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/images\/ae81d170-3ad7-d262-f347-f9d946d0549b.png\" width=\"580\" height=\"184\" align=\"center\" data-file-id=\"6441048\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis answer intrigued me: both vineyards were planted as un-grafted vines 750 meters above sea-level in decomposed sandstone in the Koue Bokkeveld - on the Ceres Plateau…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow planting Shiraz in the mountains made sense, but my first words when he told me the other bag contained Cabernet Sauvignon were: “\u003cstrong\u003eBUT WHY\u003c\/strong\u003e would anybody think of planting Cabernet so high above sea-level?”. Normally height above sea-level equals cool temperatures during ripening and it’s common knowledge that the biggest challenge for Cabernet producers are unripe, green tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut, what the heck! I thought the story was great and for the first time ever I committed to making wine from vineyards I had never set eyes on. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday we know a lot more. What I did not know back in 2015 was that the site’s radiation levels (intensity of sunlight) were off-the-charts high, not the temperature... the sunlight! You know when you are standing on a snow-covered slope high on the Alps in Switzerland? On a clear day the sunlight is warm and intense but the temperatures are still low. Same thing.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCombine these conditions with very cold night temperatures and you get a longer hang time (the time the grapes spend attached to the vine). It slowly accumulates sugar while absorbing massive amounts of sunlight, and sunlight is what ripens. And when we pick in early April, the grapes have moderate sugar levels, ripe tannins and high acids.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e(By the way: the grapes from the first bag became arguably our most famous vineyard - Little William)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"But Why 2022","offer_id":46385739858086,"sku":"7902","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-But-Why-1_84abd71e-9e2e-46a6-93ec-7b90d32412d2.png?v=1751093338"},{"product_id":"aasvoel-2023","title":"Aasvoël 2023","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 2023","offer_id":46385739923622,"sku":"7923","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blankbottle-Aasvoel-23.png?v=1751093195"},{"product_id":"the-empire-strikes-back-2023","title":"The Empire Strikes Back 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eThe Empire Strikes Back - An all-STELLENBOSCH white blend of Verdelho, Roussanne, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\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 2023","offer_id":46385739956390,"sku":"7925","price":325.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-The-Empire-Strikes-Back-copy.png?v=1751094125"},{"product_id":"epileptic-inspiration-2023","title":"Epileptic Inspiration 2023","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA single vineyard Semillon from Elgin. The wine is a combination of Amphora, old and new French oak fermented\/aged components.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Epileptic Inspiration 2013? You have no respect!\", a Swiss guy told me on a recent trip to Zurich.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the beginning of BLANKbottle, I have been designing my own labels. At first, it was because there was absolutely no way I could afford designers. I made use of Microsoft Word, typed BLANKbottle, placed it into a block and played around with the colours - no designing skills required at all. And, to be honest, for the first 10 years I actually didn't like my labels much (besides maybe the honesty of it). Every year, I would again have to fight off the desire to employ professional label designers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of you who don't know this: I started having Epilepsy at the age of 30. Then in November 2013, whilst not on medication, I had another huge epileptic fit (the second one ever). So the Dr booked me off driving and surfing, yet again. When I have a fit, what happens to me at first is that I forget everything. My long term memory returns quite soon thereafter (within hours), but I find that my short term analytical memory takes about 2-3 months to return - if at all... \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd this is how I started to design my new labels for the 2013 wines. I could not look at the computer due to the flickering screen. So I started making use of scissors, paint, Lino, pencil and old paper. And the result: I think I had a breakthrough in design, inspiration of Epileptic proportions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo the drawing and design of my own labels came as a direct result of my epilepsy. And here’s the strange part which I cannot prove - I believe that something in my brain changed due to epilepsy. Before epilepsy I had no skill or desire to draw paint etc. Now I still don’t have the skill, but at least I like my labels! All 47 of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Epileptic Inspiration 2023","offer_id":46385740054694,"sku":"7926","price":295.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Epileptic-Inspiration-copy_77b1b1ed-1f36-459e-a5f6-a831fa454df9.png?v=1751093429"},{"product_id":"my-koffer-2023","title":"My Koffer 2023","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\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 2023 - 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\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\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. 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\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"My Koffer 2023","offer_id":46385740120230,"sku":"7931","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-My-Koffer-2023_ff6bb974-569e-4359-9268-0bac5de34518.png?v=1751093792"},{"product_id":"retirement-65-2023","title":"Retirement @ 65 2023","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen it came to the harvest of 2023, we decided to pick the Shiraz component a bit earlier than usual. The result: a wine that turned out to be a bit lighter and more perfumy. It compliments the finer aromas of the Cinsaut and amplifies freshness, adding great length.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2Q5oifE7acE\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\"\u003e\n\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\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:image --\u003e\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/gallery.mailchimp.com\/20207e7491d110e972ec6af28\/_compresseds\/168c661f-4277-4250-bfdd-b4b8cf8f9e17.jpg\"\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\/figure\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:image --\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 2023","offer_id":46385740185766,"sku":"7932","price":345.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Retirement-at-65-2016-copy_16a450de-7f68-416e-8233-a40ed8357d2e.png?v=1751093979"},{"product_id":"ultra-2023","title":"Ultra 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eULTRA - an old bush vine, single vineyard Chenin blanc - a vintage of celebration - an outlet… something to make one's heart beat faster.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI met this farmer 6 years ago. He farms in the Swartland, on the border of Darling. He comes across as an extremely traditional kind of farmer. He is a young guy, but lives out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve only ever seen him wearing blue overalls and kaki two-tone shirts. A year ago I was sitting in his kitchen having a cup of tea. He mentioned to me that he is really excited for the upcoming weekend. When I asked why he replied: “do you know the Ultrrrra?” (pronounced with the very typical Swartland rolling r-sound). I didn’t know what he was talking about so he started explaining… and to cut a long story short, he is a closet raver. None of his neighbouring farmers know this about him, but his way of blowing off steam and getting rid of some stress is to go to Cape Town, book himself and his wife into a hotel and dance the night away! Have you ever…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn our modern day lives, stress is a reality and so many friends of mine struggle to get an outlet. And here we have a farmer, a traditional guy in the middle of nowhere with a passion\/an outlet - his way of coping with life. I think it’s brilliant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd I felt that this is a story that needs to be told - So here you have it: ULTRA - an old bush vine, single vineyard Chenin blanc - the first vintage of a celebration - an outlet… something to make one's heart beat faster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo I did the rave like scene sketch, grafiti-ed a DJ and got the farmer to dance - so you’ll find him in the crowd on the front label.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Ultra 2023","offer_id":46385740251302,"sku":"7940","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Ultra-2023.png?v=1751094208"},{"product_id":"b-bos-2023","title":"B-BOS 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eBaardskeerdersbos Sauvignon blanc \/ Semillon.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy grandmother grew up on a farm near a town called Bredasdorp. It’s about 45 minutes drive from L’Agulhas, where the most Southern point of the African continent is situated. When she got married, she received a wedding gift from her parents - a plot of land right next to the ocean in L’Agulhas. She built a small wooden house with the money she received as wedding gifts (seems like the standard of wedding gifts has lowered significantly in the years since then…). It’s 75 years later and the wooden house called “T-nie-C” is now my mom’s and still fully operational as a family holiday house.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is our post-harvest, post-travel, post-bottling family hideaway and very close to our hearts. The place where the kids and Aneen and I reconnect with each other and ourselves, and also where I design most of my labels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause of this, I’ve always wanted to produce a wine of origin Cape Agulhas. I had my eye on a few possible sites but it was a phone call from Caroline Rillema, owner of Caroline's Fine Wines (a wine shop in Cape Town), that was the start of an epic venture in this area.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCaroline is a formidable force in the wine industry and she and her husband Ray, planted two vineyards on their holiday breakaway smallholding in a little town called Baardskeerdersbos. As the crow flies it is 47 km from our little house in L’Agulhas. If you translate Baardskeerdersbos into English, it means “Beard-Shavers-Bush”, named after a famous spider that lives in these parts of the country. This spider builds its nest from human hair... and the myth goes that when you go to bed at night the Baardskeerder spider will climb into your bed and shave your beard for the construction of his home.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"B-BOS 2023","offer_id":46385740316838,"sku":"7957","price":310.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-S1-1-copy.png?v=1751093233"},{"product_id":"master-of-none-2023","title":"Master of None 2023","description":"\u003c!-- wp:paragraph --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eA red blend of Wellington Grenache, Piekenierskloof Grenache, Breedekloof Cinsault, Stellenbosch Pinot Noir, Swartland Fernao Pires, Elgin Sauvignon Blanc, Stellenbosch Viognier, Stellenbosch Chardonnay, Wellington Viognier and a Stellenbosch White Blend.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was one late November evening in 2017, when my then-assistant Julia and myself were blending the initial vintage of Master of None 2017 - and it was no minor feat I can tell you. Master of None is any mixologists’ dream. The 2022 vintage is a blend of no less than 11 cultivars from 8 different wine regions:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- PIEKENIERSKLOOF - Palomino and Grenache noir.\u003cbr\u003e- DARLING - Cinsaut.\u003cbr\u003e- WALKER BAY - Grenache noir.\u003cbr\u003e- WELLINGTON - Grenache noir.\u003cbr\u003e- BREEDEKLOOF - Cinsaut.\u003cbr\u003e- STELLENBOSCH - Chenin blanc, Pinot noir, Verdelho and Chardonnay.\u003cbr\u003e- SWARTLAND - Verdelho, Chenin Blanc and Fernão Pires.\u003cbr\u003e- And finally, for some spice, a very very little bit of ELGIN Weisser Riesling, Semillon and Sauvignon blanc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith 75% of the wine comprising of lighter-in-style reds, the baseline of the wine is on the lighter side of life. It's very much still a RED wine in my eyes, but the contribution of the whites to the mid palate is what makes this wine special. You can expect a chilled red that is going to entertain your guests all the way from the swimming pool right through to the main dish where it can hand over the baton to a more suitable contestant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Story of Master of None.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we were sitting there that night in 2017, we were discussing the contents of a very controversial article that had just come out. It was written by a UK wine critic. He was very concerned about this BLANKBOTTLE winery; how could they be making more than 40 different wines in all styles imaginable? He was of FIRM opinion that, in the wine world, one needs to specialise. That you have to choose a direction regarding wine style and stick to it - dissect and improve until the day you die.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the most part, I agree with him. 99% of wineries own the land they cultivate their grapes on. I, however, started making wine in my friend’s garage. I don’t own land and am therefore not bound to a specific area.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith “MASTER OF NONE” we acknowledge that viewpoints differ. We tell stories of places and people, to inspire and entertain. We might be a “Master of None” in the eyes of the guy steering that specific pen. But from our perspective, we find ourselves in the privileged position of exploring all that South Africa has to offer. To discover, dissect and improve on so many levels for so many years to come.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \/wp:paragraph --\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Master of None 2023","offer_id":46385740710054,"sku":"7966","price":325.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Master-of-None-23.png?v=1751093702"},{"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":"isa-42-2022","title":"ISA-42 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eIn short this is a 100% Merlot from the Helderberg - Stellenbosch. The resurrection of one of the first BLANKBOTTLE wines - in its original uniform.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first ever troop to proudly display the ever-so-simple original gangster BLANKBOTTLE badge of identity, was a wine called 343. The label was a simple, gray font backed by a humble, self adhesive small sticker.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn those early foundation-laying years of BLANKBOTTLE we played around with Merlot quite a bit. I then took a 10 year Merlot sabbatical, but the varietal’s been bugging me throughout. I like the power but then… I do like finesse. Not easy to find in South Africa. In 2020 the penny finally dropped. I realized that whenever I liked one, it came from a vineyard that grows in weathered granitic soil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not as if you can taste the weathered granite in the wine. Weathered granite is lighter soil with very little clay content - therefore well-drained, warmer marginal soil which results in harsher growing conditions. Conditions the farmer needs to manage carefully - and THAT is what you taste in the wine: a coalition of soil and viticulture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2020 I found it. High on the Helderberg, on the border of Somerset West - full-on weathered granite. This is the 2021 vintage of BLANKBOTTLE ISA-42 - a solid, structured and serious expression.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI decided to go with the original packaging! The little black number!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Bottle","offers":[{"title":"ISA-42 2022","offer_id":46385740841126,"sku":"8032","price":410.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/8528\/4006\/files\/Blank-Bottle-ISA-42.png?v=1751093536"}],"url":"https:\/\/blankbottle.co.za\/collections\/quick-order.oembed","provider":"Blankbottle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}