Stephanie Wiid

Draaiboek Wines Reveal a Stunning New Pair of Chardonnays – Tasting the 2023 Onskuld and Kinkel Releases…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

Draaiboek wines may be a name new to many, but it shouldn’t be. Since its maiden release Chardonnay in 2019, this boutique brand created by five friends who met while studying at the University of Stellenbosch in the early 2000s, has grown to be one of the most respected non-brand brands flying under the radar in South Africa, known mostly to the fine wine cognoscenti, the SA wine trade, and fine wine buyers (who mostly buy it for themselves!)

Draaiboek means script in Afrikaans, and as Pieter Lemmer, one of the London based partners tells me, “…we believe every wine has a story to tell. We released our first wine in September 2020, a 2019 Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge Chardonnay. We chose the name Onskuld (meaning innocence) for our first wine, to represent our innocent naivety in starting this journey (and many lessons have been learnt in the process!) We operate essentially as a negociant, buying in fruit, and so far for the Onskuld cuvée, we’ve sourced all our grapes from two single blocks of 10-year-old north-east facing Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge vines at 300 metres altitude planted on Bokkeveld shale with a high clay content. However, in 2023, the Onskuld fruit comes from just one single block of around 14 years old” according to Pieter Lemmer.

Tasting with Stephanie Wiid in London recently.

The Draaiboek wines are made by another good friend of theirs, Stephanie Wiid, from the well know Thistle and Weed winery, who they have also known for many years. Stephanie, along with viticulturalist Etienne Terblanche, have sourced and selected the fruit from La Vierge in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge to create one of the most impressive Chardonnays produced in the Cape. The 2023 expressions are simply astounding and well worth tracking down.

Draaiboek Wines Kinkel Chardonnay 2023, WO Elgin

A bright brilliant crystalline pale gold in the glass, this is another tantalising expression of cool climate Elgin Chardonnay. The aromatics are wonderfully subtle yet sophisticated, just that little bit more ‘grown up’ than most other regional Chardonnays from the wider Cape, displaying seductive notes of wet stone minerality, waxy lemon peel, yellow grapefruit, fennel root, dried baking herbs, lemon biscuits and enticing savoury, leesy nuances. The palate resonates with the same purity and clarity as the nose, showing a bright, energetic crystallinity with impressive linearity and focus on the palate and a precise, polished, fine-tuned texture that is primarily shaped by fresh, cooling acids and a fine array of concentrated pithy white citrus and green apple fruit notes. This Chardonnay represents a masterclass in classical elegance, focus and precision. Another stunner to drink on release and over the next 8 to 10 years.

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

Draaiboek Wines Onskuld Chardonnay 2023, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge

The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley has been a market leader for premium Chardonnay in South Africa for over two decades, with Elgin slowly starting to muscle in on this dominance in the last 8 to 10 years. The Onskuld Chardonnay, sourced from two single vineyard blocks in the higher altitude Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge ward, combines the magical mix of power, purity, and intensity to deliver a wine that has all the crystalline purity of cool climate Elgin but with a greater fruit concentration, mineral focus, and tangy fresh piercing acid intensity. A fabulously complex wine on the nose with notes of fennel root, bay leaf, honeydew melon and green citrus, following on to a resonating palate with deliciously tangy acids that are resplendently sleek and glassy, supporting crystalline yellow citrus pastille fruits. This is a rare example of a cool climate South African wine with effortless class and precision, pinpoint focus, but also a bold, racy finish. If this wine was attempting to seduce me, I admit, I am well smitten. A true beauty to drink on release and over the next 10 to 12+ years. 

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

Draaiboek Wines are imported into the UK by specialist South African merchant Museum Wines.

Stephanie Wiid from Thistle & Weed Wines Showcases Two Impressive New Vintages in London…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I have followed Stephanie’s wines since the early releases in circa 2015. A dynamic winemaker, she instantly joined the ranks of new top names to watch on the South African fine wine circuit. Within the Thistle & Weed range, consistency of quality has been impressive but of course certain wines have stolen the headlines, namely the Khakibos white blend and the uniquely European Nastergal red blend. 

Within the Thistle & Weed brand, Stephanie partners up with famous viticulturalist Etienne Terblanche, who has long been the advisor to the stars including Chris Alheit and Meerlust Estate among many others. With their winemaking operations now based at the Jonkershoek farm ‘Leef op Hoop’, you can expect the wines to continue to focus on quality and individuality.

Stephanie recently changed UK importers and so was in London to present some of her new vintages. I caught up with Stephanie for lunch at famed London Michelin Star eatery La Trompette to taste a couple of her new wines but also to hear her plans for the future. We were hosted by Pieter Lemmer, co-owner of the Draaiboek Wines brand for which Stephanie is the winemaker. (New 2023 Onskuld and Kinkel Chardonnay notes to follow on the Fine Wine Safari soon!)

Thistle & Weed Khakibos 2023 White Blend, WO Western Cape, 13.5% Abv.

This 2023 white is a very classy Mediterranean blend built around 45% Verdelho and 19% Chenin Blanc with supporting roles from 15% Alvarinho, 11% Palomino and 10% Fernao Pirez. On the nose there are complex aromatics of lemon cream biscuits, warm buttered white toast, green pears and subtle musky white peach and nectarine nuances. The palate is impressively fleshy and concentrated, boasting a tangy, fresh textured mouthfeel loaded with yellow orchard fruits, green honeydew melon and Seville oranges on the finish. There is something delicately exotic about the flavour complexity that hints at a maritime salinity and a pithy, granitic spice beneath the cordial like fruit concentration. Beautifully balanced and harmonious in the mouth, this is a very accomplished white blend from Stephanie Wiid. Drink now on release and over 5 to 8 years. 

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

Thistle & Weed Nastergal 2022 Red Blend, WO Western Cape, 14% Abv.

Much experimentation goes on in South Africa with red blends but few can match the Iberian Peninsula exoticism of the Nastergal 2022 red blend, made up of 31% Tempranillo, 27% Alicante Bouschet, 17% Souzao, 12% Pontac, 6% Tinta Francisca, 6% Touriga Nacional, and 1% Touriga Franca. A beautifully vibrant red wine with a purple / blue colour of Nastergal jam. The aromatics are rich and detailed showing bold notes salty black liquorice, sweet violets, black cherry compote, baked black plums, sweet molasses, salted caramel and blueberry nuances. The palate flavours are equally rich and expressive, Douro’esque in character with sweet creamy tannins, notes of gingerbread and exotic Christmas spices laced with sappy cedar oak notes and a sweet vanilla pod complexity on the finish. Supremely European in character, this an incredibly enticing creation to drink now and over the next 5 to 8 years. Tapas nibbles are optional!

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Thistle & Weed wines are imported into the UK by Graft Wines.

Draaiboek Wines Continue to Excel with Their Cool Climate Chardonnays – Tasting the New Release Onskuld and Kinkel 2022s…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

There are many new small boutique wineries in South Africa, most of them run by young winemakers who have a full time day job somewhere big and then produce micro quantities of more interesting fine wines or quirky wines on the side in their own time, normally to exercise their creative cravings. But few of these new ventures take on main stream varieties like Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay as the market is fairly saturated already with countless big name brands.

But of course, that is exactly what Draaiboek Wines set out to do when they released their first Onskuld Chardonnay 2019 on to the market made by Thistle & Weed winemaker Stephanie Wiid. Focusing only on prime cool climate Chardonnay fruit, the Onskuld label was sourced exclusively from several contracted plots in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge ward of the Walker Bay region. Four vintages in and Draaiboek Wines has already garnered multiple awards and high critical praise from local and international commentators.

With the 2022 vintage, Draaiboek Wines releases an exciting new Chardonnay cuvee made from Elgin fruit. I visited Draaiboek Wines and Stephanie Wiid in October 2022 and had the opportunity to taste all the component building blocks of both the Kinkel and the Onskuld 2022 vintage, and from the outset, I knew these were both going to be very impressive wines. The new pair were also both recently awarded 5 Stars in the Platter South African Wine Guide, which considering the competition in this category, stands testament to the focus and attention to detail afforded to both of these wines by the Draaiboek team. If you have not tasted Draaiboek Wines yet, and you are an avid Chardonnay aficionado, you must seek them out.

Draaiboek Wines Onskuld Chardonnay 2022, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, 13.5% Abv.

1.8g/l RS | 6.6g/l TA | 3.31pH

Draaiboek Wines is producing some of the most exciting Chardonnay coming out of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and this fourth release of the Onskuld Chardonnay is yet another highly accomplished wine. Spending 10 months in 45% new oak barrels on its fine lees, the minimal intervention winemaking definitely allows this cool climate terroir to shine, with aromatics full of earthy lemon peel, leesy biscuit, oatmeal, white citrus blossom and pronounced wet stone, petrichor mineral nuances. In the mouth, the Onskuld is bold and confident with plenty of cool climate acid tension over tangy lemon pastille and tangerine fruit notes. The balance on the wine is very impressive, as the fruit extract melts seamlessly into a harmonious salty crème brûlée and vanilla pod lime peel spice on the finish. There is really a lot to love about this wine which will undoubtedly appeal to connoisseurs of fine white Burgundy. Drink now and over the next 8 to 10+ years. (4,800 bottles produced.)

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

Draaiboek Wines Kinkel Chardonnay 2022, WO Elgin, 13.6% Abv.

1.8g/l RS | 6.7g/l TA | 3.32pH

This fantastic maiden release wine from Draaiboek Wines draws on the very finest elements of the cool climate terroir of Elgin to create a wine from a dry-farmed eight-year-old single vineyard situated on south westerly facing slopes, 255 metres above the coast. Fermented in French oak using 25% new barrels, the wine was aged for 10 months on its fine lees before being bottled unfiltered and unfined. The Kinkel shows a slightly tighter, more restrained aromatic profile on the nose, with subtle hints of lime blossom, lemon peel, Granny Smith apples, dusty limestone, lemon grass and white stone fruits. For all its reserve and wound spring tension, you can sense the electricity pulsing below the surface, waiting to explode on the racy, energetic, saline palate that shows subtle hints of flinty reduction. Once again, like its sibling Onskuld, the oaking is extremely elegant, pinpoint and precise, in no way obscuring the beautiful white citrus zest and liquid minerality that bristles on the taut palate. Seamless, crystalline and delightfully focused, this is a thoroughly exhilarating expression of cool climate Chardonnay and definitely a new release not to be missed! Drink from 2024 to 2034+.

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

Draaiboek Wines are imported into the UK by specialist SA merchant Museum Wines and are offered for retail at circa £36.99 per bottle.

The New Rising Star On the South African Chardonnay Horizon – Tasting the Onskuld Chardonnay 2021 Release from Draaiboek Wines…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

There are a lot of very decent South African Chardonnays on the market, but only a few exceptional examples as many producers do seem to be using either fruit from areas that are perhaps just a little bit too warm, are using grapes from vines planted on the wrong terroir, or perhaps some winemakers have simply hit a bit of a glass ceiling of knowledge when it comes to pushing the boundaries of quality and complexity for this generic grape that is so easily shaped by its terroir but also the hand of the winemaker. In reality, I suspect most of the stumbling blocks in trying to reach ever higher quality relate to vineyard terroir, micro-climates and how much insight a specific winemaker intrinsically has into the Chardonnay grape itself within a Burgundian or a New World style context.

When I was contacted by the owners of Draaibroek Wines, a new Hemel-en-Aarde brand a couple of years ago, and asked if I would be prepared to review their maiden release 2019, I have to say I did not expect much beyond the ordinary. However, as the provenance of the grapes became clearer and who their consulting winemaker was, it is fair to say my interest was substantially peaked. The maiden Chardonnay was made by accomplished winemaker Stephanie Wiid of Thistle and Weed fame, from grapes sourced in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge from the La Vierge farm. My full 92-point review from August 2020 can be read here… https://gregsherwoodmw.com/2020/08/19/an-exciting-new-release-from-the-hemel-en-aarde-ridge-tasting-the-onskuld-chardonnay-2019/

But this is a winery project in a hurry and not content to dabble with mediocrity as witnessed by the exceptional quality of only their second release. The 2020 was rated an impressive 95/100 points on the Fine Wine Safari and only narrowly missed out on 5 Stars (95/100 points and higher) in the South African Platter’s blind tastings. It was indeed a very accomplished wine that augured well for future releases. I then tasted the third vintage 2021 release at Cape Wine 2022 in October last year but did not manage to write a substantive tasting review until retasting this wine again recently. In the interim period, the wine has scored an impressive 96/100 points blind and been awarded 5 Stars in the annual Platter’s Guide.

Sourced from the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge ward in the Walker Bay wine region, the grapes are grown in a single 11-year-old North – East facing trellised vineyard at around 300 metres altitude consisting of clay-rich Bokkeveld shale soils. Made with a philosophy of minimalist intervention, the grapes were hand harvested on the 5th of March and whole bunch pressed before being fermented in French oak barrels, 30% of which were new, and matured on its fine lees for 11 months. A barrel selection was then made prior to blending and bottling.

Draaiboek Wines Onskuld Chardonnay 2021, WO Hemel-en-Aarde, 13.5% Abv.

2.30 g/l RS | 6.1g/l TA | 3.28 pH

The 2021 Chardonnay from Draaiboek Wines is certainly an impressive creation. Immediately lifted and expressive on the nose, the aromatics boast complex layers that slowly unfurl to reveal pristine notes of white flowers, freshly baked baguette, spicy green apples, white citrus, waxy lemon rind and subtle hints of nutmeg. The palate is beautifully weighted with a medium bodied palate breadth and tangy acids that show deliciously racy, saline notes of Seville oranges, tangerine, granny smith apples and warm apple strudel pastries. Such a mouth-watering, joyful expression from one of the best white wine vintages in South Africa in the past decade. Drink this now or cellar comfortably for added complexity for 3 to 8+ years. (3,670 bottles produced.)

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

The wines are available in South Africa from www.draaiboek.wine and in the UK from Ben Prior at Vino SA www.vinosa.wine at circa £32pb.

Draaiboek Wines Releases Their Second Vintage of the Onskuld Chardonnay 2020 From the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Draaiboek wines is a name that might be new to many. Though I did review the maiden release 2019, this is essentially a new wine company that was created by five friends who met while studying at the University of Stellenbosch in the early 2000s. The foundations of their friendship were formed during the frequent wine tastings and wine routing jollies indulged in as students. After graduating, everyone eventually headed out to write their own stories. Yet, despite different borders and time zones, they always checked in with every changing chapter of each others lives. Now, after many years of friendship, the different characters have come together once again to produce Draaiboek Wines, born out of a love for wine and the stories that it tells.

Draaiboek means script in Afrikaans, and as Pieter Lemmer, one of the London based partners tells me, “…we believe every wine has a story to tell. We released our first wine in September 2020, a 2019 Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge Chardonnay. We chose the name Onskuld (meaning innocence) for our first wine to represent our innocent naivety in starting this journey (many lessons were learned in the process!). We operate essentially as a negociant buying in fruit, and so far, we’ve sourced all our grapes from a single block of 10-year-old north-east facing Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge vines at 300 metres altitude planted on Bokkeveld shale with a high clay content”.

The Draaiboek wines are made by another good friend of theirs, Stephanie Wiid from the well know Thistle and Weed winery, who they have also known for many years. Stephanie, along with viticulturalist Etienne Terblanche, have sourced and selected the fruit from a specific single block at La Vierge in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge although in 2021, a second block of Chardonnay has been added to increase the volume of wine produced. For the maiden 2019 vintage only 200 x 6 were produced, rising to 300 x 6 for the 2020 vintage. Watch out for their 2021 Pinot Noir also made from Ridge fruit that is still in the cellar but should be released in 2022.

I recently tasted a sample of the 2020 Onskuld Chardonnay which was aged on its fine lees for 11 months and saw 30% new oak in the final blend, aiming to give the wine more structure than the 2019 while still showing all the hallmarks of Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge minerality. Draaiboek Wines follows a philosophy of minimal intervention in the cellar, allowing the quality of the terroir to express itself. This certainly seems to be a new boutique name to watch.

Draaiboek Wines Onskuld Chardonnay 2020, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, 13.5% Abv.

2.4 g/l RS | 6.2 TA | 3.38 pH

In 2020 this Chardonnay is all still sourced from one single Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge block. Mindful of the wine’s youth, I opened my sample and tasted over two days to give the wine the full benefit of oxygen. This certainly is a very impressive wine and a considerable step up on the delicious maiden 2019. The aromatics show complex multi-dimensional layers of sea spray, white flowers, orange citrus oil, freshly baked buttered croissants and pithy lemon rind notes. Very pure and precise, the palate reveals an incredibly elegant, creamy leesy texture with no shortage of tension and minerality, all supported by an intense but seamless concentration of green and yellow fruits, pineapple pastille and lemon bon bons nuances. The length is truly striking, lingering then very slowing fading gradually on the long finish as if someone was slowing turning down the taste volume. The acids are fresh as you’d expect from Ridge fruit but also fabulously tangy and bright. Like a great work of art, this 2020 requires a measure of reflection and contemplation to fully appreciate its beautiful construction, pristine balance and superb harmony. Give the wine plenty of air, decanting if necessary, and don’t serve too cold. A wonderfully complete wine that should drink well from release and over 6 to 8+ years.

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