Vinum Grenache

Rack of lamb and pork belly.

Founded in 1998 by Alex Dale, Radford Dale set about the Cape in search of exciting vineyard parcels for their chosen specialist varietals. Today, they have two producing wineries. The first is located in Stellenbosch, predominantly focused on sourcing maritime influenced parcels around the Helderberg and Polkadraai. Here, they produce the cult, single vineyard wines of Renaissance Chenin Blanc and Frankenstein Pinotage, and the Radford Dale Vinum range; a set of six wines that consistently overdeliver on style to price. The 2022 vintage marked the maiden release from their own vineyards purchased in Elgin under Radford Dale Organic, with the release of four single varietal Estate wines, the only organic certified vineyards in the region. More recently, they have co-founded South Africa’s first Organic Wine Association. They continue to reintroduce Gamay Noir to the Cape, establishing the first new plantings for some 20 years. It’s a varietal geared up to thrive in warm conditions, and on granite soils. Stylistically, Gamay also embodies Radford Dale’s championing of elegant, refreshing red wines.

The fruit for this wine comes from two vineyards, one on the Helderberg, overlooking the ocean, the other on the Stellenbosch Mountain. They grow in rocky koffie klip soils, with decomposed granite and a deep sub-layer of clay. These vineyards benefit greatly from the South Easter sea breeze in the summertime, cooling the entire vineyard. Winter rainfall started well with average to above-average levels in May and June but dropped sharply from July to November. Groundwater reserves remained adequate, benefiting budding and initial vine growth. Despite an earlier véraison compared to 2022, cool ripening conditions delayed harvest and was a long and slow harvest. Which meant extra hang time for greater phenolic ripeness.

The wine was then matured for 11 months in older (3 to4-year-old) French oak barrels.

The grapes were all hand-picked at dawn to capture freshness and acidity while retaining elegance in the flavour expression. The bunches were hand-sorted and a combination of whole berry carbonic maceration and partial crushing took place in a 7000L oak fermenter, on the skins, using wild yeast only. This technique lifts the fruit and creates intensity, as well as freshness and liveliness. We employed very light extraction, with the focus on promoting a lithe, supple texture. This complements the expressive fruit profile, and in doing so retains depth and persistence. The berries were basket-pressed to ensure only the purest liquid was extracted.