The ‘Mother Rock’ series of wines is all about showcasing the nuance and greatness of the Swartland through a very minimalist touch of Johan Meyer, AKA ‘Stompie.’ Cinsault is the grape that in many ways embodies the ‘new’ Swartland, one that is highlighted in its best light with a gentle touch, picking early to preserve acidity and not covering up the elegance of the grape with oak. Stompie loves the purity and focus of this unique site in Malmesbury as it is planted ton decomposed granite and ironstone where most of the region is on old shale. The block was planted in 1987 and as of 2009 is farmed organically and dry-farmed.
The grapes are handpicked across two weeks and were wild yeast fermented entirely whole-cluster in open top fermenters with just gentle hand plunging for two weeks and an additional week on skins/stems post-fermentation. Once the ferment went dry the wine was racked with the gross lees to a couple of 25hL concrete eggs for maturation. After seven months of aging the wine was blended and bottled in early September without fining or filtration and just a very small addition of sulfur.