Vloedvlak

While Sakkie Mouton, together with his extended family of grape farmers in the Vredendal environs, have been integral in helping to launch a number of old vine Colombar brands onto the market such as the Naude Family Wines Langpad Old Vine 2020, Sakkie’s own first release only materialised at the end of 2022 with the maiden Vloedvlak 2022, a delicious wine that further expanded the premium offering of this once workhorse white cultivar.

The 2023 Vloedvlak is once again a 100% Colombar wine sourced from the same specific original clone old vine vineyard planted in 1978 on the banks of the mighty Olifants River, located only 25 kilometres from the cold Atlantic Ocean that acts to shape and influence the style and structure of the best Wes Kus wine expressions. Grapes were picked early in the morning to preserve freshness, then cooled down before being pressed the following morning.

Whole bunch pressing was done without the addition of any enzymes, then left overnight to settle in a stainless steel tank, before being racked to another tank to allow natural fermentation to commence. The final portion of the alcoholic fermentation took place in 228 litre barrels where the wine was then aged for five months on its gross lees, with two months of light bâtonnage, before being bottled unfiltered and unfined with a small addition of sulphur.

Sakkie Mouton inspecting his old vine vineyard in 2023.

Vloedvlak means flood plain in Afrikaans and alludes to the manner of flood irrigation that is commonly employed in the region with the close proximity of the Olifants River. However, due to excessive flooding in this vineyard in 2024 from freak weather conditions, Sakkie was not able to produce a Vloedvlak Colombar, but instead, will produce an alternative old vine Colombar from vineyards near to the Naude Langpad vineyard in Vredendal.

Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Vloedvlak Colombar 2023, WO Olifants River, 10.94% Abv.

1.4g/l RS | 7.6g/l TA | 3.25pH

This is another wonderfully pinpoint and precise white wine that speaks volumes about the increasing focus and textural finesse Sakkie now manages to increasingly capture on all his wines. Beautifully perfumed, saline and mineral all at once, the nose is packed full of white blossom, lime peel, white peach, orange zest, sherbet coated bon bons, and wet thatch notes over multiple layers of wet stone minerality, a sea breeze salinity, dried kelp and umami, nori seaweed nuances. Like all Sakkie’s wines, the aromatics are very subtle and delicate, merely suggestive rather than prescriptive. In the mouth, the texture is fine, crystalline and harmonious, but also deliciously tangy and mouthwatering with salty, briney acids, notes of lemon and lime pastille, white peach and a long, clean, stony savoury finish. I tasted this new release over two days to really let the wine’s full complexity express itself and to allow the underlying texture to open its shoulders and fill all corners of the mouth. After that, even my stoical will power was insufficient to hold off drinking the rest of the bottle. This is a majestic white wine and another important building block in the ongoing South African Colombar(d) storyline. Drink now and over the next 6 to 8+ years.

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

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)