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00:00 – Bad Science & Anecdotes
00:36 – Scientific Consensus on Allelopathy
02:01 – Social Influence vs Sentience in Grape Vines
02:46 – “There goes the Neighbourhood”: Vineyard Edition
03:20 – Concluding Remarks
03:31 – Intro to the wine of the day
03:49 – A vineyard that breaks ALL the rules
05:01 – What cultivars are in the blend?
06:23 – Blacksmith’s ‘Guided by the Moon’: a Wine geek’s wet dream
07:08 – Tasting notes for the Blacksmith Wines ‘These Old Bones” Field Blend
09:00 – Video links to more wonderful wines from the Blacksmith range
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For a while now, viticulturists have been proposing that vines of different cultivars, when planted in close proximity to one another appear to influence one another – yay, verily, even alter each other’s personalities. Or is that some bogus vinous romance masquerading as cutting edge botany?
Well, here’s what we do know:
1. Certain plant species communicate via chemical signals released through their roots or leaves. This is well documented.
2. Studies on grapevines are more limited, but many biodynamic and regenerative farmers insist that interplanting different cultivars leads to ripening synchronicity.
3. NOT ALL anecdotal from the moo-worshiping fringe, there are also Emerging research suggests that even though grapevines are technically self-pollinating, vines in close proximity might influence fruit set and ripening rates.
And to be fair, if you look at centuries-old interplanted vineyards in places like Douro, Alsace, Chianti, or Alto Adige, you’ll notice that red and white cultivars ripen within a surprisingly narrow window—even though they normally wouldn’t.
There’s also plenty of anecdotal evidence from younger wine regions like California and South Africa saying the same thing.

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If you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you’ll have to hunt this wine down on your own. But until then, here are my tasting notes and technical specs:

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👃🏼 Aromas of citrus pith, lemon candy, seville orange marmalade… but then also unusual notes of terracotta clay and a slightly off-beat earthy waxy floral frangipani type note.
👄 The palate is a bizarre mix of fresh orange juice, salty sea spray, sunshine nectarine and bitter grapefruit pith. but beneath that, especially as wine warms in the mouth, there is sweeter maroela fruit, too.
But more than the flavours it is this fascinating mix of quite pronounced very tart stone fruit citrus, and quite a healthy heft of what I guess feels like that Sichuan pepper kinda of burn. Which perhaps the winemaker would appreciate – given that Tremayne is a trained chef.

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Wine of Origin Voor-Paardeberg. All fruit is harvested from a single vineyard alleged to have been planted with 100% Chenin Blanc in the year, 1977 AD. In reality, the vineyard is a wild blend of Semillon, Chenin Blanc, Crouchen Blanc and Palomino. Only native yeasts are used, and minimal sulfur is added.