Prestigious Family Wineries
Live Virtual Auction, 23 July 2023
Prestigious family wineries | Thelema Mountain Vineyards, Raats Family Wines and Savage Wines
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About this Item
Duncan Savage, a trailblazing winemaker, produces some of SA’s most sought-after wines. They are something of a contradiction; ‘savage’ in their essence of minimal intervention winemaking, but utterly sophisticated in their elegance, drinkability and poise. Every year his following grows, with some of these wines reaching a cult-like status. He sources grapes from across the Western Cape winelands and his cellars are based in Salt River.
Straw wine made from 100% Chenin Blanc grown on rocky sandstone from the Pienenierskloof farm of Tierhoek was dried for three weeks and then left for five days on its skins as whole-bunches followed by foot treading. Resulting grapes were basket pressed into small barrels for the remainder of fermentation and for a further 10 months of ageing.
Critics Ratings
‘Chenin straw wine. Wholebunch foot-trod over 5 days, fermented 12 months, 80% 15 months in older oak, rest in demijohn. 8% alcohol but 2020 packed with peach & pineapple, wild honey, intense sweetness (300+ g/L sugar).’ – Platter's SA Wine Guide 2022, 5* (97/100)
‘"I want this to age 30 years," says Duncan Savage of his Chenin Blanc straw wine, which combines 310 grams of sugar with acidity levels that wouldn’t look out of place in a Mosel Riesling. Black tea, stone fruit and orange peel flavours are embellished by cooler climate acidity and amazing minerality. 2022-30.’ – Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2021, 95/100
‘The 2020 Not Tonight Josephine, the sweet wine in Duncan Savage's range, has a more backward nose than other sweet South African wines that I tasted and needs some coaxing. It offers well-defined marmalade, lemon curd, quince and orange zest aromas. The palate is beautifully balanced and not as heavy as its peers thanks to a killer line of acidity. Zesty and vibrant, this conveys lots of energy and feels very persistent on the finish. Superb.’ – Neal Martin, Vinous, 94/100 (Jul 2021)
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