It’s a tightly woven lattice; fiercely focused beams of sour cherry, cranberry, strawberry Sparkle candy, and raspberry sherbet. It’s hard to express just how pure and persistent the fruit is on this wine. And for all my focus on acidity, one never gets the feeling that balance is lacking. But that might be for the same reason that you don’t always notice the pillow beneath your head during a hero-dose mushroom trip in the Sistine Chapel.

I’ve sometimes struggled with the Early Harvest Brigade and their pursuit of acid at all costs.

I’m also the first one to object to “crunchy tannins” being used as a compliment on a wine.

But if the school fees necessary to produce a bottle with this of level and poise and balance involves risking the odd vintage of battery acid or liquid sandpaper, then it’ll be worth it every time.

A very exciting release from Bernard Bredell, which serves to document his transition from “edgy, young prodigy” to “category-defining maestro”.

🔬 87% Cinsault / 13% Pinotage. Both parcels from old bushvine blocks. The Cinsault block was planted in 1975, while the Pinotage block was planted in 1976. Both are planted in some of Rustenhof farms lighter sandy soils, with silica fragments present. He notes that, “these two vineyards… share a similar soil type, vine age and close ocean proximity [and therefore] capture a common thread.”
Bredell is operating on a theory that light, sandy soils offer particularly pronounced texture and clarity of fruit. The wine in the glass says he may be on to something.
ALC 12% ABV
2800 bottle made
Unfiltered, and unfined.
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💸💸 ZAR225.00 (as of November 2021)
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🎬 Want to know more about Scions of Sinai? Here’s a video on Bredell’s important contribution to the ongoing Pinotage debate, expressed through his Atlantikas Pinotage.