Luddite - 'Saboteur' - White Blend - Western Cape, ZA - 2023

Notes from the Winery/Importer

As the Luddite Saboteur White gains more following, we continue to grow this wine always keeping quality in mind. So, with this said, this is the first vintage where we sourced fruit from Standford which still keeps the wine to the Cape South Coast region. Very tricky harvest as it rained heavily but luckily, we picked early for freshness and acidity, therefore missing the rain. We continue to have skin contact on the Chenin and Viognier to give some tannin, texture and structure to the wine. Both varietals spent 12 days on skins with morning and evening punch-downs. We then pressed, taking as much lees and sediment to barrel to complete the fermentation. We also did a small portion of tank fermentation Chenin Blanc for extra primary fruit. The Sauvignon Blanc is whole-bunch pressed and pumped directly to barrel without settling to ferment. All the components spent 7 months in old French Oak barrels with regular batonnage. We racked and blended the 3 components, always having food and drinkability in mind. The 2023 blend is 77% Chenin Blanc, 13% Blanc Fumé and 10% Viognier. We hope that we have continued to achieve our goal which is to have a serious, well-structured yet refreshingly fruity white wine. Grapes were sourced from four vineyard sites: Bot River, Barton Chenin Blanc harvested 9th February 2023 Bot River, Gabriëlskloof Viognier harvested 9th February 2023 Standford, Standford Hills Chenin Blanc harvested 15th February 2023 Elgin, Elgin Ridge Sauvignon Blanc harvested 28th February 2023 Average analysis of fruit at harvest 22.0° Balling, TA – 6.8 g/l, pH – 3.36 Tasting Notes Appearance: Pale straw in colour. Nose: Pronounced nose with floral sweet fruit, honey, peach and almonds. Palate: Rich mouthfeel with subtle tannins and pithiness from skin contact. White peach, honey blossoms with a salty and herbaceous finish. Analysis of the wine Alcohol: 12.5% pH: 3.46 TA: 5.95 g/l RS: 1.6 g/l 20 300 bottles of this vintage were produced (crown cap & 515 magnums)

Notes on the Producer

Niels and Penny met at a friend’s 21st birthday party in 1985, where they discovered that they were both going to be attending Elsenburg Agricultural College in the new year. They became close friends at college, and romance blossomed late one night cramming for exams. He passed, she failed, but they’re still together. On finishing their studies, a desire to make wine but with no access to vineyards (these were the dark days in South Africa), Penny and Niels left the country in 1989. 1995 saw the Verburg family return to South Africa from Europe. Niels had worked as a flying winemaker in France, Chili, New Zealand and Australia, and even managed to make wine in Greece. A longing to work on a small farm led them to Bot River. After 8 vintages at Beaumont, they moved up the hill to a 16 hectare patch of land. Thirty years later, with three kids and six dogs, the Verburgs are happy on their hill, and Luddite wines has evolved into an established and respected brand.