Lukas Van Loggerenberg, Trust Your Gut 2020

Lukas sources the grapes for this wine from two regions. The biggest portion, 60%, of the wine is sourced from a block in the Paardeberg (Swartland) and 40% from the Polkadraai hills of Stellenbosch .The Paardeberg portion is from bush vine grapes planted on decomposed granite giving the wine its elegance, finesse and focus. The portion from the Polkadraai is planted on Granite and lends characteristics of yellow fruit and depth to the wine. The parcels are vinified separately before being blended together just before bottling. Grapes are whole bunch pressed and left overnight to settle in stainless steel tanks. The wine is the racked to 3rd fill 500 litre French oak the next morning. The wine spent 10 months on its primary lees without any batonage. No commercial yeast or enzymes were used during the winemaking process.

Lucas is one of the latest additions to the club of, what is called, the 'New Wave': young producers who exploit the old vines and fabulous vineyards of the Cape. His debut vintage was 2016 and is already making a significant reputation for himself and his wines. His first job was at Rijk’s in Tulbagh, after he graduated from Elsenburg college. Then, after spending two seasons on the Finger Lakes on the eastern side of the USA, he returned home to work at the relatively obscure Druk My Niet wine estate in Paarl. It was in late 2015 during a visit to France, that he made the decision to switch from being a salary-earner and into the terrifying if inevitable world of making his own wine.