Wenlock Cellars
Wildeberg Amphora, WO Franschhoek 2023
Wildeberg Amphora, WO Franschhoek 2023
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Old vine Semillon has always represented the pinnacle for our WO Franschhoek whites; it’s a versatile beast that can shapeshift to take on many different personalities. The blend here is exactly the same as found in our Wildeberg White (SBO501), mostly Semillon Blanc with a blob of it’s naturally mutated cousin; Semillon Gris, all from ancient vineyards dating back to 1905.
Production
The wine is matured for 9 months on gross lees, with battonage once a month, in 750l Italian Tava amphora. We’ve given the first vintage, 2023, a year in bottle to knit together before release
Tasting notes
An opening pithy lime salvo is followed up with spicy ginger notes with the battonage adding to a generous, mouth filling texture and nicely complementing the innate refined acidity on offer.
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ABV
12%
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Bottle Size
75cl
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Region/Country
Franschhoek, South Africa
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Grape
Semillon 100%
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Features
Vegetarian, Vegan, Sustainable
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Closure
Cork
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Winemaker
JD Rossouw
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Appellation
WO Franschhoek
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Allergen info
Contains sulphites and no other allergens
Meet the Producer
The Earth’s mantle thrusts up above the gentle town of Franschhoek, a wild slice of untamed mountain on which sits a farm named Wildeberg. An established wine region for some 350 years, sensible generations never thought to plant a vine here until a happy band of idealists recently craned their necks up at this hillside and, dizzy with hope, decided to give it a go. Franschhoek is on the very edge of the south-eastern corner of the Cape’s venerable Coastal Region, indeed Wildeberg’s property border runs over the top of the mountain where the Coastal Region gives way to the baboon-strewn road to Grabouw and the wider Western Cape.
The Wildeberg wines express the most captivating Franschhoek Valley fruit. In our Wildeberg Terroirs bottlings we look beyond our home to a clutch of exceptional sites of other origin.
A mountain rich in metaphor with the visual heft to flatter any wine, releases of Wildeberg and Terroirs express our continued purpose – exceptional wines of place, however humble the origin. If the abiding memory of our wines remains a textural sense of place then we are portraying the Cape as hoped.
A Note on Sustainability
Wildeberg is a 144ha wine farm set against the backdrop of the dramatic Franschhoek mountains, on the very edge of viticultural possibilities. To farm here you have to be in tune with nature, respecting the earth and the elements, creating wines which truly express the terroir with minimal intervention.
This special area is home to 4 endangered Fynbos species, and a key mission of Wildeberg is to conserve this vegetation type as they are critical to the biodiversity of the Western Cape. This work entails clearing invasive alien trees which can overwhelm the Fynbos and contribute to the threat of forest fires. Fynbos covered mountains like those at Wildeberg are thought to be responsible for delivering one glass of water in five in South Africa, due to the plants allowing up to 80% of rainwater to run off into rivers and reservoirs rather than being absorbed into the soil.
Water is precious in South Africa, and waste water from the winery passes through a natural wetland with indigenous reeds and plants before being pumped into our irrigation dam. We then use this water to irrigate the vines.All Wildeberg wines are certified as part of South Africa’s sustainability accreditation, the ‘Integrated Production of Wine’ (IPW) system. The IPW scheme, started in 1998, consists of a set of audited guidelines specifying agricultural practices, manufacturing practices and bottling activities.
Wildeberg is also a proud member of the Cape’s Old Vine Project (OVP), which preserves blocks of vines which are 35 years and older. The project encourages producers to farm as close to nature as possible whilst raising awareness of the inherent potential of old vines to produce outstanding and expressive wines.
