The Wine Societys Generation Series South African Red 2023

More on the wine

This wine comes from one of the coolest cellars in the world of wine – the urban winery of Duncan Savage, Tim Atkin’s Winemaker of the Year 2023. Duncan first made his name as a winemaker (he is also something of a surfing legend) at Cape Point Vineyards, specialising in sauvignon blanc. When he began making wines under his own Savage Wines label, he began working with a wider range of grapes, travelling many miles and using all his contacts to source the best quality fruit.

Early Society Lists described reds from the Cape as ‘Bordeaux type’ or ‘Burgundy type’ (until a trade agreement in the 1930s, French wine terms were frequently used by producers elsewhere). With Duncan in mind, we opted for the ‘Burgundy type’, a wine made in the style of a pinot noir but not, as there would have been very limited plantings of pinot in those early years. We believe those earliest listings would have been based on the cinsault grape, which was widely planted at the time.

These days, cinsault is in short supply, and the best grapes are highly sought after by many of South Africa’s most dynamic winemakers. Duncan’s own cinsault, Follow the Line, is one of the Cape’s best, and our wine was made in that style, part from the cooler, more maritime Follow the Line vineyard in Darling, the balance from a small experimental vineyard in the Swartland, both on granitic soil.

We tasted a 2022 wine for an indication of the style, and then gave Duncan the go-ahead to make the wine for us in the 2023 vintage. 100% cinsault, as always meticulously sorted, around half underwent whole-bunch spontaneous ferment, the whole receiving only gentle extraction, two weeks on the skins, basket pressing, followed by maturation in old 600 litre French oak casks and larger oval foudres. As it blends the fruit of two contrasting wine wards, it is Wine of Origin Coastal Region.