The 2024 vintage of Wolf & Woman Grenache Rosé saw a move to the sandstone soils of the Piekenierskloof Mountain at 2,100 feet above sea level. It’s made in a refreshing, zippy style with a nod to Provence. Jolandie does two picks in order to provide layers of fruit and freshness to the wine. The first pick is at 20˚Balling which gives the energy and freshness of the wine. The second pick happens when the grapes reach 22˚B; these picks provide multiple layers of fruit and add complexity to the final wine. It is made in the traditional blanc de noir style – in other words, by taking the long road with a slow whole cluster pressing. This action is very gentle; there is no extraction of harsh phenolics and the stems act like a filter bed, and thus the juice is cleaner and the color extraction is minimal. Plus, fun fact: the 2020 vintage was served at the Queens Jubilee, so Jolandie now likes to call it the Royals’ Rosé.
The Grenache was hand-harvested in two picks early in the morning, packed in crates and allowed to spend 24 hours in a cold room. The following day the grapes were gently whole-cluster pressed, with only the free-run juice being used and left to settle naturally for a day. No enzymes were used during the settling process and the juice was racked from the thick, gross lees, but with the fine lees intact, to half old 500L French barrels and half stainless steel. Fermentation occurred naturally and without any additions and post-primary fermentation the wine was hit with a small addition of sulfur. After a total of eight months aging the barrels were racked to tank to settle and the wine was bottled without fining or and just a coarse filtration and small addition of sulfur.
