BLANK Bottle, Jimmy, Western Cape 2020

A couple of decades ago a guy called Polla Brand drove the first Suzuki Jimny into South Africa from Namibia. The car ended up with a family member on a farm in the Voor Paardeberg. 

Come winter, the other vehicles struggled in the mud and slippery clay but the Suzuki, with its short wheelbase, cruised through really difficult terrain. Immediately gaining respect. From then on, the farmer, his son and his grandson (the current farmer) only drives Suzuki 4x4’s on the farm. The current farmer also happens to be the Western Cape champion, racing in the Dunes along the West Coast of South Africa - with his little hyped-up supercharged Suzuki - hence the inspiration for the label.

Verdelho is a really interesting variety to farm with in South Africa. It loves heat and has this unique characteristic of maintaining high acid levels in really ripe conditions. This is a variety that you need to keep an eye on during harvest. It gains sugar at an immense rate with the challenge of picking it before it gets too ripe. 

Where most other wineries add tartaric acid, we prefer having a very early-picked Verdelho, at a low alcohol and a beyond-massive acid in the winery. We make use of this as a blending component to add acid and freshness. And this is the true power of Verdelho. But I felt that it was time to show the consumer the real personality of the varietal.

Pieter Walser, the winemaker at BLANKbottle was coined “The man making mind-bending wine” by The Telegraph so prepare to have your mind blown with some new wines from BLANKbottle. His wines have built an astonishing following since we first took them and are getting better and better.

Every one of Pieter’s wines is a story, rather than a grape variety, and it’s the juice inside the bottle which reveals that story. He doesn’t own any vines, but instead scours South Africa’s winelands for top-quality fruit that has somehow slipped under the radar, now sourcing from nearly 70 sites. Some years he’ll make 40 wines, other years 50. With the benefit of anonymity, variety and regional identity take a back seat while parcel expression does the driving. These are some of South Africa’s most original wines, made by one of South Africa’s most original winemakers. So as quantities are very limited for some wines, grab some now, whilst you can.