Effervescent Light Sparkling Wine
This light in alcohol, effervescent (or Petillant) wine is inspired
and consumed at the annual workers' harvest festival in Franschhoek
(The French Corner) appellation. It is produced on a farm which is a
joint venture between the families who have owned the vineyards for
generations and the worker's Trust, the beneficiaries of which are
descendants of slaves and the indigenous peoples who live on the
farms and its environs.
The modern transformation on the farm where this wine is
made began when the owner of the farm (who attended the same school as Yair Safriel) returned to South Africa in 2001 to rescue his
family farm which had been in the family for six generations since
the 1700's. On his return, he soon realized that the farm was home
to seven families who had been residing and working on the
farm for generations as well. So the owner and the workers stopped
farming and started excavating around the
stately Cape Dutch homestead, cellar and farm buildings. As the
archaeological digs uncovered artifacts from different periods in
the history of the farm, the people of the farm could piece together
their own personal stories. These historical and cultural treasures were placed in a social history
museum. The excavations also illuminated the fact that the farm was
built by slaves who are the direct ancestors of the tenants who live on the farm today. With the support of a British
entrepreneurial philanthropist, a trust was established through
which ownership of land and equity in the business could be shared.
In 2007 the workers and residents of the farm acquired a 33.3%
interest in the business subsequently rising to 50%.
The Harvest Feast
The Farm's Trust also supports the annual Oesfees, South Africa’s
only authentic wine harvest festival targeted at ensuring workers on
wine farms throughout the Franschhoek valley get to celebrate the
harvest in which they play such an integral role, and which features
vernacular music and traditional cuisine – embracing the workers’
culture and heritage.
The Wine
This sparkling wine is light in alcohol (9.5% Vol) with a Shiraz base from select farms in the Western Cape and is vinified and bottled on a single farm in the Franschhoek (French Corner) appellation. The grapes were harvested at approximately 18° balling, slow fermented, with a touch of wood. No malolactic fermentation was performed to retain high acid (TA - 6.6 g/l; pH - 3.3), which balances the underlying sweet note (RS - 34 g/l). Celebratory fizz added!
Awards:90 points - Wine Enthusiast.
Lynne Safriel's thoughts: "My husband popped this open when we were staying at an airBnB in Cape Town, on a slope of Table Mountain, overlooking Clifton Beach below. It was perfect."
