Wild Flower Cinsaut Rosé

Maybe as you put feet up to enjoy a good read, or pull out the easel or notepad and let the inspiration flow. Whatever the occasion, mood or season – enjoy this exuberant rosé simply on its own, well chilled, or with an endless variety of culinary complements.

In 1984 Neil Ellis sourced grapes from vineyards not of his own and produced wine in rented cellar space. These grapes were sourced in the Stellenbosch district and meant a lot of nosing around the restrictive quota system prevalent at the time. His vision the pursuit of quality extended out of the cellar and into the vineyards where varieties would excel and best express a particular style of wine reflective of their environment. Today the experience and knowledge of the past are applied to modern techniques and technologies for a new generation of winemaking. “Our vision remains to make distinctive refined wines that are expressive of their terrain and rank amongst South Africa’s finest. A pursuit of quality nothing less.” Neil Ellis

Like a wild flower our vines assimilate their environment – they soak up a bit of the soil, a bit of the sea, a bit of the sky of the vast and rugged West Coast. The vines are dryland farmed near Darling, where they are exposed to a harsh coastal terrain and climate. This adversity forces the plants to word hard to produce complex fruit, leading to an elegant, nuanced style of rosé. The grapes are picked early in the season for a lighter style that is fresh and accessible.

The grapes are lightly pressed and spend minimal time soaking on their skins prior to cold fermentation to achieve a subtle, delicate style with purity and freshness of flavour. After fermentation, the wine spends a few months on its fine lees to colour in the canvas with palate weight and mouthfeel.