Vigne d’Or

The premium Terre Paisible winery project in the Franschhoek Valley gathers pace and with consulting winemaker Adam Mason with his hand firmly on the rudder, this is definitely a winery brand to watch. With grapes for their Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay sourced from their own premium vineyards in the valley, quality has been steadily heading upwards.

Their 2021 Chardonnay was an impressively Burgundian-styled cool climate expression garnering numerous global accolades. Likewise, Adam’s super suave 2021 red Cape Bordeaux blend made from bought in fruit from several premium sites from around Stellenbosch, bears testament to the incredible quality of the 2021 vintage. I had a snapshot tasting of the full unfinished range in South Africa in March with Adam but recently tasted the below completed pair of wines in London, including the follow up 2022 Chardonnay Vigne d’Or.

Terre Paisible Vigne d’Or Chardonnay 2022, WO Franschhoek, 13% Abv.

The Terre Paisible Vigne d’Or Chardonnay 2022 is a distinctive assemblage of grapes all from their own Franschhoek Valley vineyards, fermented and matured for 9 months in 500 litre neutral French oak barrels. The aromatics offer up expressive notes of white flowers, pickled cucumber, baked Golden Delicious apples, warm custard, and Key Lime pie together with subtle salted caramel and grapefruit confit nuances. On the palate the oaking is sympathetic and beautifully integrated allowing crystalline lemon and lime fruit notes to shine through. The wine has impressive concentration and a focused fruit intensity which is caressed by fresh tangy acids and a delicately pithy mineral finish. This is an exceptionally well-made wine that stylistically marries the best notions of white Burgundy with the opulence of a Californian-styled Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Drink it on release and over 3 to 5 years.

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

Terre Paisible Vigne d’Or Red Blend 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Consultant winemaker Adam Mason (of Klein Constantia fame) certainly got the opportunity to flex his winemaking expertise with this new release from one of the greatest Cape vintages in the past two decades, and this 2021 Terre Paisible Red Blend surely stands as one of the most exciting new red wines from the Cape in recent years. This noble expression draws on the finest fruit from the Stellenbosch region to deliver a fragrant expression with lifted aromatics of crème de cassis, pressed violets, potpourri, cherry tobacco, and sweet plums with hints of sappy cedar spice. Dense and generous but supple in the mouth, this wine shows an incredibly layered texture with a fresh seamless core of salted plums, blueberry, and black currant, all energised by a crisp, vibrant acidity and a sleek, powdery mineral tannin mouthfeel that’s polished and suitably tight knit. Simply wonderful to witness such inspired winemaking in an iconic vintage like 2021. Drink on release but preferably over the next 5 to 12+ years. A real triumph from Adam Mason.

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

The multi-talented Adam Mason is making quite the name for himself as one of the most highly regarded and respected consulting winemakers in the South African winelands at the moment. His current winemaking projects include Vriesenhof Estate in Stellenbosch and of course Terre Paisible in Franschhoek. The old Vigne d’Or farm has now been rebranded Terre Paisible with massive international investment going into the property to build a state-of-the-art Wellbeing Heath Spa / Clinic surrounded by a premium wine estate.

While grapes are currently being bought in from Stellenbosch to produce their red and Rosé wines, Adam has free run with two Sauvignon Blanc vineyards, one younger and one Old Vine Certified – one of only a handful of Sauvignon Blanc vineyards in the Cape with this distinction. The results from this old 1987 vineyard are indeed very impressive. I first tasted a tank sample of the 2022 vintage with Adam at Cape Wine in October 2022 and then the finish bottling in March 2023. Certainly no doubting the quality and uniqueness of this vineyard site and resultant wine.

Adam Mason showing his new vintages of Terre Paisible at 67 Pall Mall private members club in May 2024.

I caught up with Adam again in Franschhoek in March 2024 and had a sneak peak at all the new Terre Paisible releases that are currently enroute to market. But with Adam over in London again in May, I took the opportunity to retaste the full Terre Paisible range of wines and once again, the Les Dames de ’87 Old Vine Sauvignon Blanc 2023 was another knockout expression of Sauvignon Blanc. For a grape that divides so many wine drinkers’ opinions, the Terre Paisible flagship cuvee certainly does not have to try very hard to make friends! Whether you are a New World or an Old World Sauvignon Blanc lover, you can’t help but be seduced by this impressive wine.

Terre Paisilble Les Dames de ‘87 Old Vine Sauvignon Blanc 2023, WO Franschhoek, 13% Abv.

An attractively bright, pale golden bronzy yellow, the vibrancy on the nose is delectably enticing, packed full of pithy white citrus, yellow grapefruit peel, salty brine, spicy lemon grass essences, and a dusty crushed granite minerality. This beautifully pure and precise 2023 Sauvignon Blanc has an even stronger terroir footprint than the highly rated 2022 vintage as winemaker Adam Mason continues to familiarise himself with this special site’s terroir characteristics, and as such, the 2023 boasts a more classical crystalline varietal typicity and less struck flint and smoky reductive nuances. Superbly balanced on the palate, there is a mouth-watering old vine intensity and concentration of white and yellow citrus, gooseberry, quince jelly and spicy dried herbs. This is a wine with great presence and impressive complexity that will appeal to lovers of top French Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé from the Loire Valley. Drink on release and over the next 6 to 8+ years.

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

The Terre Paisilble wines are imported into the UK by specialist merchant Museum Wines and is available retail for circa £36 per bottle.