“The Skurfberg remains one of the most challengingly water scarce areas that we work with, and the 2023 growing season remained very dry, though little did we know how much rain would fall later in the year. We are continuously impressed with the vines’ ability to survive and thrive in these extreme conditions. The ripening period was mercifully moderate (this is relative up here) and we were able to pick a decent crop at very solid ripeness levels. We have been slowly expanding the number of blocks that we have access to up in the Skurfberg and the 2023 wine now includes portions from the van Lill’s Arbeidsend, the Visser’s Oudam, and a small amount from the Laing. Each is varying in power and intensity, but Oudam and Laing are particularly concentrated and ripe. This is a “region of compulsion” for me as I just can’t turn down the opportunity to work with grapes from this area. I think compulsion is what allows me to push through the work of sourcing grapes from this remote area. It remains logistically challenging, but those long harvest days fade away as we assess the luminous wines in barrel. I’m continually delighted to see the kind of complexity and texture that Sauvignon Blanc can deliver on the right sites, showing itself to be one of the world’s classic grape varieties. We have stuck to our winemaking basics here, eschewing primary fruit in favour of the deeper characteristics of the wines. The grapes are wholebunch pressed in our old Vaslin basket press with no sulphur dioxide or other additions. The juice is then wild-fermented in a mix of 225L and 300L old oak barrels where the wines remain on their gross lees for 9-10 months before blending and bottling. We favour malolactic fermentation over early additions of sulphur dioxide, and the wines only see a first addition of sulphur dioxide in the early winter. We are looking for wines that show tension without losing their suppleness and core, and wines that will reward time in the cellar.”