White

Pairs well with Asian chicken skewers

South Africa has an interesting national anthem—one which seamlessly weaves the words of four distinct languages (there are 11 national languages!) into a beautiful uninterrupted melody. The idea behind the wines of Essay is very similar; we identify grape varietals that thrive in our region and intentionally blend them together in such a way that the resulting wine is “greater than the sum of its parts.” We grow grapes in the Agter-Paarl (“behind Paarl”) region, where vineyards span over scenic rolling hills. The area has perfect Mediterranean conditions of cold, wet winters and long, dry summers. The vineyards are grown sustainably and predominantly dry-farmed, which yields fruit with an intensity of flavor. When blending grape varietals, the winemaker’s objective is to elevate the wines by adding complexity and balance. The winemaking team at Essay is spearheaded by cellarmasters Tyrrel Myburgh and José Conde of MAN Family Wines, together with head winemaker Riaan Moller. Essay is a play on words—“SA” being the abbreviation for South Africa.

An early harvest meant healthy crops, particularly for the white grapes which were picked prior tot he rains. The grapes had abundant aromatics, with the dry-farmed vineyards ensuring smaller berries and disease resistant vines. The Chenin Blanc and Viognier come from dry-land bush-vine vineyards grown on shale soils in the Agter-Paarl region, while the Roussanne is sourced from vineyards in the cooler Stellenbosch region.

Grapes were hand-harvested and cold-fermented in stainless steel tanks. The Chenin Blanc is only free-run juice. A few months of lees contact enhances texture. The unwooded wine was fined and filtered before bottling.