Revenge of the Crayfish

Sakkie Mouton Releases His New Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2025 From Koekenaap…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Sakkie Mouton is one of South Africa’s most exciting, low-intervention winemakers, celebrated for putting the rugged and remote West Coast on the global wine map. Based in Vredendal and Koekenaap, Sakkie champions a forgotten, wind-swept terroir shaped by intense Atlantic breezes and sandstone soils. After studying at Elsenburg and traveling the world, he returned home to champion old vines and distinct coastal identities. 

Known for a minimalist, “Weskus” style, his small-production, critically acclaimed wines like the flagship Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc, are famous for their vibrant acidity, complex textures, and unmistakable coastal maritime salinity. While Sakkie’s personal “wine style” is ever evolving, no two vintages are ever quite the same, with each subsequent release showing his own personal growth and evolution. The 2025 style moves yet again, focusing on texture, mouthfeel and concentration of fruit flavours, making a wine that is arguably one of his most “grown up” yet.

Revenge of the Crayfish 2025, WO Koekenaap, 13.81% Abv. 

Picked slightly later than usual, this 2025 Chenin Blanc reveals an intricate aromatics of white blossoms, white peach, tinned pineapples, green apples over a delicate yet complex array of dried kelp, oyster shell and Weskus maritime sea spray. The first Crayfish cuvee to undergo 100% malolactic fermentation, the palate does feel a little denser, fleshier and slightly less nervy that early editions, but whatever is lost in terms of tart steely austerity, is more than compensated for by a plusher, more harmonious mid-palate texture and balance, built with compact layers of tangy pineapple fruits, apricot, tart yellow plums and green apple cordial hints with a gentle yet assertive salinity on the finish. This is a serious Chenin that exudes a quiet confidence with plenty of the 2025 vintage concentration, illuminating Sakkie’s continued growth and development as an accomplished premium winemaker. Drink on release and over the next 8 to 10+ years. 

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sakkie Mouton’s wines are exclusively available in the UK from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines and Wood Winters UK.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines New Releases – Tasting the Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2024…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

The 2024 Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc was the earliest harvest of this vineyard ever as the region experienced tremendous heatwaves up the West Coast and a generally earlier vintage across the Western Cape. As a result, the 2024 harvest involved and initial earlier pick for freshness and a slightly later pick for ripeness and body. This process might explain the tantalising interplay on the nose and palate between taut, tense, fresh flavours and richer, honied exotic fruit notes, components that marry incredibly well in the final blend to deliver a wine that is a slight departure from Sakkie’s more mineral, saline, pithy, maritime Weskus style. 

The vineyards in Koekenaap are located around 5kms from the ice-cold Atlantic Ocean on well drained Sandstone soils. Grapes were hand harvested early in the morning, then taken to a cold room and cooled down for one night. The next day the grapes were whole bunch pressed in a membrane press, with the juice being taken to a stainless steel tank for natural cold settling. No enzymes were added except for a little sulphur.

Sakkie in his Koekenaap Chenin Blanc vineyard.

Clear juice was racked off the next day into a stainless steel tank and some 500 litre barrels for natural fermentation to start. Fermentation took about 120 days (the longest fermentation time to date). Afterwards, all the finished wine was moved into old 500 litre barrels to age for 12 months on its gross lees before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is the first Crayfish that underwent 100% Malolactic Fermentation.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2024, WO Koekenaap, 13.41% Abv.

3.2g/l RS | 7.7g/l TA | 3.02p

The 2024 Crayfish Chenin Blanc is a very impressive creation boasting a rich, golden bronzed yellow hue in the glass. In this vintage, Sakkie seems to have shifted to a higher gear with a far more elaborate peacock’s tail array of exotic aromatics. Noticeably richer and more intense, there are layers of dried apricot, white peach, pineapple, and green apple with top notes of white blossom and tangerine citrus peel. The pithy pineappley fruit intensity does initially mask some of the maritime salinity and gravelly minerality but linger over your glass a little longer and these Weskus hallmarks eventually reveal themselves. The palate shows incredible depth and explosive intensity, fleshy and broad with lashings of tangy yellow orchard fruits, tart pineapple chunks, peaches in honey, salted caramel, and crystallised green apple on the finish. I don’t know if Sakkie has discovered a few new tricks in the cellar or if the vintage has played into his hands with graceful precision, but I suspect it’s a combination of both. This is undoubtedly a statement wine, a wine that demands attention and then delivers in bucket loads. The slight hint of added exoticism definitely suits Sakkie’s winemaking style! I am simply blown away by this new release! Drink now to 2035+.

(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines are available from award winning South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.

Another Incredibly Eye-catching Chenin Blanc from Sakkie Mouton – Tasting the New Release Revenge of the Crayfish 2023…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

With every new vintage release from Sakkie Mouton, you just never know what to expect other than that the boundaries of quality, texture and complexity will once again be pushed a little further as he learns from every consecutive vintage put in bottle. Undoubtedly, the Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc from Koekenaap, which in 2018 was his first wine produced, is now in 2023 nearing a point where the vision for his individual Weskus terroir style is starting to be cemented into something quite substantial and lasting. I probably say it every vintage, but this 2023 for me represents the finest and most grown-up expression of the Crayfish cuvee produced to date.

The 2023 Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin blanc was harvested on two separate dates, the 9th of February and the 16th of February, as the vineyard in Koekenaap ripens in two distinctive stages. Grapes were hand harvested early in the morning, then taken to a cold room and cooled down for one night. The next day the grapes were whole bunch pressed in a membrane press, with the juice being taken to a stainless steel tank for natural cold settling and no enzymes were added except for a little sulphur. Clear juice was racked off the next day into a stainless steel tank and some 500 litre barrels for natural Fermentation to start. Fermentation took about 40 days to complete. Afterwards, all the finished wine was moved to old 500 litre barrels to age for a further 10 months on their gross lees before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. No malolactic fermentation took place.

Sakkie Mouton Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Koekenaap, 13.2% Abv.

3.4g/l RS | 7.3g/l TA | 3.16pH

Already in its sixth vintage, this new Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2023 once again pushes the boundaries of intensity, clarity, and purity of characterful Weskus Chenin Blanc fruit sourced from the unique Koekenaap coastal vineyards located about five kilometres from the cold Atlantic ocean on well drained Sandstone soils. This latest release shows a wonderfully complex aromatics of taut lime peel, freshly grated green apple, white blossom, apricot pip, fresh fennel leaf, and a subtle hint of under ripe green pears. The evolution of the Crayfish style is most evident in the way Sakkie has learnt to tame the Weskus briney maritime rock salt salinity and integrate it into a more complete, classy, layered expression while retaining plenty of liquid minerality and the kelpy, nori seaweed nuances. The larger format 500 litre oak barrels also seem to bring out the very best characteristics of the Chenin Blanc fruit, exposing a more glycerol, textured mid-palate packed full of pithy lime peel, white peaches, and savoury apple notes. This wine is not only one of Sakkie’s finest whites bottled to date, but also one of the most delicious and mouthwatering whites I have drunk all year. My admiration for this young winemaker grows with every subsequent vintage release! Well done Sakkie. Drink on release and over the next 8 to 10+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Sakkie Mouton wines are imported into the UK by South African fine wine specialist Museum Wines and are available strictly subject to allocation for circa £39 per bottle.

Another Exceptional Benchmark Old Vine Chenin Blanc from Sakkie Mouton – Revisiting His Fifth Release of the Revenge of the Crayfish 2022…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 4 Comments

With all eyes on Sakkie Mouton Family Wines again as he prepares to launch his fabled 2023 Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc, I thought I would recalibrate my taste buds in preparation with a bottle of his excellent 2022 release. Like all intuitive winemakers, Sakkie has slowly been evolving his winemaking style with every passing vintage, tweaking the oak regime, varying the amount of skin contact, experimenting with more or less lees stirring during elevage, etc… all in the quest to make more complex and exciting wines.

With the 2022 vintage, we see a number of these factors coming together to reveal themselves in the form of a very serious, mature minded expression of Wes Kus Chenin Blanc from Koekenaap.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Revenge of the Crayfish 2022 Chenin Blanc, WO Koekenaap, 13.84% Abv.

2.3g/l RS | 7.2g/l TA | 3.15pH

The most recent vintages from Sakkie Mouton have shown his growing winemaking prowess and confidence and this new 2022 Chenin Blanc is no exception. The aromatics are loaded with poached pears, green apple, freshly squeezed lime peel, tangerine over deliciously saline, maritime notes of nori seaweed, kelp, rock salt and crunchy white peach. As always, the palate is fabulously taut and nervy with layer upon layer of liquid minerality, sea breeze, brine, white citrus and Granny Smith apples. But it has been Sakkie Mouton’s ability to conjure up greater mid-palate flesh and textural depth through his evolving handling of skin and lees contact which acts to broaden the mouthfeel and remove any more harder malic edges associated with earlier picked fruit. This new release is a absolute triumph of west coast winemaking! Drink on release after a decent decanting and enjoy comfortably over the next 10 to 12+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines are available in the UK on allocation from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.

A Seminal Vintage in the Crayfish Journey – Tasting Sakkie Mouton’s 4th Chenin Blanc Release…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

After a two year absence from the Cape, I promised myself that I’d do a little West Coast road trip when I next visited the winelands. With a lot of help from Ian Naudé, this trip came to fruition in March 2022, beginning by collecting Sakkie Mouton in Malmesbury before heading up the coast. We stopped for an incredible Wes Kus lunch at the Wolfgat restaurant and this is where I first tasted Sakkie’s 2021 Full On Misfit as well as a recently bottled Crayfish 2021.

As both bottles were consumed with the incredible Wolfgat tasting menu, I obviously had a pretty good idea what I was in for when Sakkie sent me a finished, labelled and waxed bottle of the Revenge of the Crayfish 2021 to reassess in the more neutral surrounds of London.

Tasting with Sakkie Mouton at the Wolfgat Restaurant in Paternoster.

The vineyards for the Crayfish Chenin Blanc are located on well-drained sandy soils, about five kilometres from the cold Atlantic ocean, which receive a constant cooling effect from the sea that moderates the temperatures in this warm coastal region.

Confident and self-assured… Sakkie Mouton and the Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2021!

Grapes were hand harvested early in the morning, then taken to the cold room and cooled down for one night. This was done before being whole bunch pressed in an old basket press, followed by settling for twelve hours without any addition of enzymes except for a little Sulphur. The clear juice was then racked off and taken to 3rd and 4th fill 228L and 400L barrels as well as a batch fermented in stainless steel. Natural fermentation ensued for four weeks. After fermentation was completed the lees was regularly stirred once a week for eight months. Post fermentation carried out over a period of eight months on the gross lees before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Koekenaap, 12.93% Abv.

1.1 g/l RS | 7.5 g/l TA | 3.11 pH

The refinement of this 2021 Chenin Blanc must surely represent a seminal moment in the evolution of the Crayfish Blanc. All the tell tale signs of the ‘Wes Kus’ are evident on the nose with multiple waves of maritime sea breeze, kelp on the beach and rock salt that combine with distinctly savoury, leesy biscuit nuances, waxy Granny Smith apples, yellow grapefruit citrus and wet stone mineral complexity. The beautiful palate shows noticeably extra textural depth and breadth compared to earlier vintages but also incredible intensity and piercing fruit concentration. There are notes of white citrus, tangerine peel, tart green apples, tangy lemon cordial and subtle notes of fresh litchi juice dusted with rock salt, dried fynbos herbs and nori seaweed. Fabulous precision and focus combine to make this one hell of a wine that finishes with deliciously tangy lemony acids and a pronounced saline white citrus fruit persistency. This is next level Chenin Blanc in my book that celebrates its own unique sense of place together with a maturing winemaking know-how. Simply stunning. Undoubtedly Sakkie’s best yet. Drink from release and over the next 10 to 15+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The legend Continues – Tasting the New Release Revenge of the Crayfish 2020 Chenin Blanc…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Sakkie Mouton is the epitome of the classic West Coast maverick or perhaps the West Coast misfit to use his own words. But whatever descriptives you use to describe his unique brand of winemaking and marketing, there is no denying this young man’s incredible talent, passion and vision. Almost uniquely, despite his enviable and obvious rock star talents, he has never been too confident or arrogant to dismiss advice or unwilling to alter course in the name of producing the very best possible end product.

With his 2018 maiden release, I likened Sakkie’s unique talents to something I had not seen since Eben Sadie hit the South African wine scene properly in the early 2000s, at first with the Spice Route Winery and then subsequently with his own labels. Perhaps the real similarity lies in both being able to elicit something quite unique and magical from varieties and vineyards that so many before them had managed to produce merely average wines from. Who knows? The industry is lucky to have them both for sure!

“Get your Cray on… “

This new 2020 Crayfish edition was picked in two different passes through the vineyards before being fermented with wild yeast in used 228 litre barrels and aged on the gross lees for eight months. The wine was then bottled unfiltered and unfined with minimal intervention.

Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2020, WO Koekenaap, 13.5% Abv.

With two vintages under his belt, Sakkie Mouton must surely have a fairly watertight idea of what he is trying to create with his unique Chenin Blanc fruit sourced from his homeland vineyards of Koekenaap up the West Coast. While super youthful and fresh, this 2020 expression does indeed display an impressive clarity and composure with wonderfully pure aromatics of crunchy green apples, pear drops, bay leaves, dried green baking herbs, lime peel and of course the signature West Coast notes of oyster shell and maritime sea breeze salinity. On the palate, there is notable concentration and depth of zippy white citrus, savoury yellow orchard fruits and a briny rock salt salinity reminiscent of river pebbles washed in sea water. Never a wine to reveal all its secrets willingly, a little more coaxing in a big Zalto glass allows the wine to show hints of orange citrus peel, a lovely fresh tangy sweet / sour acidity and yet more layers of maritime intensity. This new release might not be quite as wild and rebellious as some of Sakkie’s previous releases, but it certainly shows a growing confidence, maturity of thought, and texturally, an intricacy and purity that makes this wine very much one of his most complete creations to date. Give this white one to two years in the cellar from release before opening and then enjoy over 12 to 15+ years. Congratulations Sakkie on another distinguished wine!

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wines available in the UK on allocation from Vino SA and Handford Wines.

Return of the Crayfish… The Revenge Continues – Tasting the New Release 2019 Revenge of the Crayfish Barrel Sample…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 6 Comments

With only a third of 2020 ticked off on the calendar and a very uncertain next six months lying ahead, I thought that the 29th March would be the perfect moment to release my initial review for Sakkie Mouton’s second vintage of Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc. Happy Birthday Sakkie!

Sakkie and I met up in Stellenbosch in mid February to taste the second edition of this cult Chenin Blanc from Koekenaap near Vredendal, made from a 25 year old vineyard with fruit from the same site as the 2018 maiden vintage.

What a journey it has been. With the sell-out 2018 turning heads, blowing minds and agitating the bureaucrats, the anticipation (and pressure) on Sakkie surely grew every day as the 2019 harvest approached. But a valuable stint in Oregon from June to the end of November at Carlton Winemaker Studio winery undoubtedly added to Sakkies further winemaking experience and overall maturity. 

The 2019 vintage Chenin Blanc grapes were taken in a lot earlier than 2018 resulting in an acidity of 8.2 versus 7.2 for the 2018 grapes. 

Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2019, 12.5 Abv. (Barrel Sample)

While still super youthful and vibrant, this Chenin Blanc expresses itself as boldly and characterfully as the incredible maiden release 2018. There are beautiful notes of crystalline white peach, green melon draped in salty Parma ham, white citrus, hard fig and saline sea breeze notes. On the palate, the alka seltzer spritzy minerality comes to the fore, shining brightly and melting beautifully into a subtle leesy white granitic wet stone mineral austerity tempered by a plush mid palate richness of yellow orchard fruits, wet straw and a mouth watering tart linear line of acidity, finishing with the most incredible intensity and saline persistence. This wine will tighten up further in bottle, but I envisage this 2019 offering an incremental generosity, concentration and finely textured mouthfeel. I am smitten yet again!

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Post Script – We finished off the tasting with three new unfinished components who’s end destinations are still undecided. An interesting but characterful 2020 Chenel from Vredendal, a 2020 Palomino from Lutzville and then an incredible, unusual, highly expressive Chenin Blanc from a vineyard in Vredendal planted in 1989. More exciting treats from talented Sakkie Mouton coming soon.