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00:00 – INTRO

00:40 – WHERE IS TULBAGH

00:50 – THE CARTOONISH TOPOGRAPHY OF TULBAGH

01:40 – SOME INFO ON FABLE MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS

03:21 – WHAT DOES THE WINE TASTE LIKE?

04:45 – WHAT IS A GRAVITY- FED CELLAR?

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Winemaker Tremayne Smith is the wine brain behind the remarkable range of Blacksmith Wines, but back in 2018, he was the full-time winemaker for Fable Mountain Vineyards in Tulbagh. Where he made the Fable Mountain Vineyards Night Sky 2018 Red Blend. The first Wine of Origin Tulbagh bottle to feature in the HanDrinksSolo Wine Club.

Tulbagh is a long horse-shoe shaped valley gradually segues into the Breedekloof region. Tulbagh is separated from the Swartland (and the Atlantic Ocean) by the rather dramatic Obiqua Mountain range. It’s a jolly hot and dry place to try and grow grapes, but Fable Mountain Vineyards are nestled right up against the Witzenberg Mountain range, at altitudes of beween 400m and 650m ASL. Formiddable.

One can add to the fact that  that Shiraz seems to do really rather well in Tulbagh, as do other hardy cultivars like Grenache and Mourvedre. This is why Fable have chosen to focus exclusively on these cultivars. They are an enormously considered outfit, that employs hand-harvesting only in the vineyards, and has designed the cellar to be exclusively gravity fed, minimising the need for fruit to be pumped around.

Now, if you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you’ll have to use your imagination for now, triggered by my tasting notes and some technical specs. But when you have the time, be sure to track this guy down (although they can be hard to find), as it is an impressive little bit of winemaking.

Also, here is some video content on the science behind post-fermentation maceration.

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👃🏼 The vanguard is a little like the schnozz on a star-nosed mole; generous and multi-faceted. Notes of white chocolate, dried herbs, cherry fruit, blackberry boiled candy and fennel.

👄  The palate is remarkably lithe, given the tannic potential of both Mourvedre and Syrah. The sweeter blackberry boiled candy and gentle chocolate elements are dwarfed by the delightfully chirpy raspberry and sour cherry acidity. The overall impression is one of silk and sunbeams, with the superbly delicate tannins forming a lattice work through which bright red berry acidity can shine against a backdrop of candy and cocoa.

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Wine of origin Tulbagh. 56% Syrah, 23% Grenache, 21% Mourvedre. Grapes are all hand-harvested from vineyards at between 400m and 650m ASL. The various parcels of fruit are all fermented separately in a combination of Stainless Steel and concrete, before being put through a gargantuan 8 weeks of post-fermentation maceration. The final wine is matured in 500l French Oak.