Sakkie Mouton is undoubtedly one of the Cape wine industries bright young talents. But he has come a long way in a very short period of time since the first solo release of his Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2018, which has since been joined by his delicious Full On Misfit White Blend, the Sand Erf Vermentino and now his newest addition, the Vloedvlak Colombard. Despite this growing selection of wines, soon to be joined by an accomplished red Syrah, Sakkie’s wines remain impossibly difficult to track down and buy, seemingly selling out before they are even released! But considering the excitement surrounding his winemaking style and wine quality, the scarcity is hardly unexpected.

The new Vloedvlak 2022 is a 100% Colombard white wine made from Old Vine vineyards planted in 1978 by Mr Karel Voigt’s father on the farm Dwarsdeur located 35 kilometres from the cold Atlantic Ocean, just outside the small town of Vredendal on the West Coast of South Africa. The name Vloedvlak is Afrikaans for Flood Level, being a tribute to the old irrigation methods still in use today where whole vineyards are flooded until they reach their ‘Vloedvlak.’

Grapes were picked early in the morning to preserve freshness, then cooled down before being crushed early the following day. Grapes were destemmed and crushed into an old basket press without the addition of any enzymes, then left overnight to settle in a stainless steel tank, before being racked to another stainless steel tank for natural fermentation to commence. Fermentation started after two days and lasted for about one month with the temperature at fermentation kept at 14⁰C to preserve fruit and purity.

After fermentation, the wine was racked into 500 litre barrels for ageing on its gross lees. Aging in barrel lasted four months with regular stirring of the lees. The wine was finally bottled unfined and unfiltered with a small addition of sulphur. This new release carries a Wine of Origin Olifantsriver designation being sourced from Old Vine vineyards planted on sandy silty soils next to the banks of the Olifantsriver. Cold nights and warm days along with the traditionally cooler silty soils gave the grapes a longer natural ripening period.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Vloedvlak Old Vine Colombar 2022, WO Olifantsriver, 11.68% Abv.

This new addition to the ranks of the Old Vine Colombard movement is another striking example of what is possible with this once ‘work horse’ variety. Super young and packed full of primary aromatics, this wine will evolve and unfurl its full complex offering over the coming years. In its vibrant youth the nose resonates with embryonic notes of dusty perfumed talc, lime peel, crunchy white peaches, pear drop, honeydew melon rock candy, West Coast maritime sea breeze, Nori seaweed and subtle hints of dried green herbs and fynbos. The palate is tantalisingly taut and linear with a concertina’d concentration of sour yellow plum, savoury brine, white peach, tangy yellow apple and layer upon layer of salty, tangy acidity. Razor sharp and brilliantly crisp now, this wine will start to round out and put on additional leesy glycerol mid-palate weight with another 3 to 6 months in bottle. While there are already a few stunning examples of Old Vine Colombard on the market now, Sakkie Mouton once again succeeds in expressing his own unique winemaking genius with a wine that boasts a classic West Coast terroir character. Snap this rarity up on release but pop a few bottles in your cellar for at least two to three years before revisiting.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Recommended Retail Price expected to be circa £27 to £29 per bottle inc.