2026 eschews Pinotage and focuses on Chenin…why you ask? Because Stompie felt that way! The fruit comes entirely from the Waterval Farm and particularly the ‘young vines’ of the Kweperfontein block. The block is planted on pure granitic sand over shale on a south-east facing slope with about 1,000 feet elevation and roughly 20 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. This wine always epitomizes quaffability and energy and the ’26 is no exception.
The fruit was hand-harvested based on taste in mid-January and then whole-bunch pressed to neutral barrel to ferment naturally for about three weeks. When the sugar levels reached 25 grams/liter (ensuring four bars of pressure) the wine was transferred directly to bottle. Fermentation finished in the bottle and the wine spent a few months there before release. No disgorgement, no fining, and no filtering.