• Analysis
  • Vineyards
  • Vinification and Aging
  • Tasting Notes
  • Vintage Notes

BLANKbottle “The Bomb” NV

Wine of Origin

Stellenbosch

Varietals

Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

Analysis

Wine Maker: Pieter H. Walser

Alcohol: 15.5%

Owning a farm limits you to the vineyards on your specific farm. I love traveling and experiencing many different areas. I want to make area specific wines, wines that will be ambassadors for areas. I harvest 55 tons from 47 vineyards; 26 different varietals and growing – anything from Fernao Pirez to Cabernet. In the 2015 harvest, I drove 13 000 killometers in 100 days to pick my grapes.

Vineyard-site selection is where all wine begins, and to me personally, one of my most crucial decisions. The fruit for this wine came from the Helderburg in Somerset West. The Helderberg’s been called by some as one of the best places in South Africa to grow Bordeaux varietals (stuff like Cab, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec etc.)

This wine began way back in 2010 when we were left with a batch of wine in barrel that just did not fit into the blends it was intended for. And when I tested the alcohol, it was over 15%; I thought it was way too high, but LOVED the wine. After bottling, the department of agriculture came back with the final analysis. An alcohol of 16.14% – GOODness? To tame the wine a bit I folded in some fresh Stellenbosch Merlot and bottled the multi vintage blend.

This installment of “The Bomb” is a big, dark, inky expression of Stellenbosch Cabernet and Merlot. A beautiful blackberry and red cherry nose paves the way for a healthy dose of dark chocolate and fresh mint. This is not a timid bottle of wine. Soul warming and brooding, this is a perfect bottle of wine for rich beef stews or thicker slabs of grilled meats.

This wine is a blend of multiple vintages and is therefore not indicative of either single vintage in the bottle.