‘I Wish I Was a Ninja’ is an off-dry Colombard méthode ancestrale from a dry-farmed, trellised block planted in 1998. The block has been farmed organically since it was planted and belongs to Dr Edmund Oettlé who is a wonderful man to get to know. He has a great deal of knowledge with regards to organic farming and makes fantastic brandy. The block of Colombard is wonderfully acidic due to the river that flows right next to the block which prevents the vines from experiencing too much stress. As for the label, Craig says, “The name came about whilst we were bottling the wine in harvest and we got onto the topic of Ninjas. The photo was taken by myself in the pool of good friend Paul Jordaan [Paulus Wine Co. winemaker], during one of many Swartland Braais. I knew then that the photo would be my label as I think it captures the essence of what I want the people to feel like when they drink this wine.”
The grapes were harvested by hand and fermented in fiberglass tanks at 8°C. During fermentation, the wine was racked nine times to remove sediment. With a residual sugar of 55 g/L, it was bottled under a crown cap to complete fermentation and build natural carbonation. After 10 months, the bottles were riddled and disgorged, topped off with the same wine from decanted bottles, and sealed again with a crown cap. No SO2 was added, and the wine saw no settling or fining agents throughout the process.
