presented by Andy Woolgar from Elephants Corner
Inzuzo Chardonnay 2025
Established in 2024 as a broad Black Economic Empowerment initiative supported by Journey’s End Vineyards, The Inzuzo Wine Company stands 51% owned by its workers. Led by visionary head winemaker Kaylin Willscott—the celebrated Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé of the Year in 2023—the brand converts wine profits directly into audited community uplifting projects across Sir Lowry’s Pass Village. The estate vineyards thrive in the high-quality marl and decomposed granite soils surrounding the Western Cape, benefiting heavily from cool ocean air coming off False Bay.
The 2025 Chardonnay captures the bright, modern, and transformative trajectory shaping contemporary South African winemaking. It displays a clean, reflective straw-gold hue in the glass. The aromatic structure leads with crisp green apple, lemon curd, and a delicate touch of white peach. Showing a masterfully integrated palate, the wine balances its refreshing fruit-driven acidity against a subtle, beautifully creamy texture derived from intentional, short post-fermentation lees contact.
Appellation: Western Cape, South Africa
Grapes: 100% Chardonnay – ABV: 12.5%
Tasting notes: Bright, balanced, and elegant. It emphasizes fresh stone fruit and zesty citrus aromas, shifting smoothly into a vibrant palate featuring green apple notes and a clean, delicately creamy finish.
Pairing: Best served chilled at 8–10°C. It serves as an excellent companion to creamy chicken pastas, grilled sole, roasted summer vegetables, or mild artisanal cheeses.
Producer: The Inzuzo Wine Company
Wild House Chenin Blanc 2025
Wild House is a contemporary South African brand crafted by the highly acclaimed winemaking team at Wildeberg. The label draws poetic inspiration from a small, weather-beaten hut exposed to the storm-swept slopes of the Franschhoek mountains. The winemakers leverage access to dry-farmed bush vines across old, rugged Western Cape plots to prioritize texture. By combining high-altitude parcels with ocean-cooled valley fruit, they celebrate Chenin Blanc as the absolute backbone grape of South Africa’s wine identity.
The 2025 vintage delivers an energetic, multi-layered presentation that avoids the over-extracted tropical heaviness often found in warm-climate iterations. Fermented cool in steel tanks to preserve maximum freshness, it spends roughly 9 months on its fine lees to introduce serious mid-palate complexity and depth. The nose yields bright aromas of ripe pear, sliced peach, mandarin orange, and a touch of wild clover honey. The palate is wonderfully dry, quaffable, and texturally rich.
Appellation: Western Cape, South Africa
Grapes: 100% Chenin Blanc – ABV: 13%
Tasting notes: Ripe and highly textured. It layers aromatic bursts of white peach, pear, and mandarin fruit over a dry, stone fruit finish that is softened and made complex by long lees aging.
Pairing: Serve chilled at 8–10°C. Its excellent weight and refreshing lift allow it to complement salt and pepper squid, tempura battered fish and chips, or lightly spiced poultry dishes.
Producer: Wild House Wines
Alinea Grenache 2023
Crafted by winemaker Natasha Jacka, Alinea Wines focuses on low-intervention, single-vineyard expressions that let natural terroir take center stage. The fruit for this specific 2023 release is sourced from a historic vineyard site in the Simonsberg-Paarl region, where the mature vines dig deep into ancient, iron-rich clay and shale soils. Embracing a hands-on, minimalist philosophy, Jacka employs classic traditional methods like foot-treading whole grape clusters and relies purely on native wild yeasts for spontaneous fermentation.
The 2023 Grenache is an incredibly elegant, concentrated, and light-bodied red wine that showcases a minimalist, natural style. It pours a beautiful, translucent pale ruby-red color. The bouquet is intensely aromatic, showcasing complex, perfumed layers of fresh strawberry, tart red currant, pomegranate, and orange peel alongside wild fynbos herbs. On the palate, the wine feels lean, exceptionally fresh, and beautifully structured by savory, persistent tannins.
Appellation: Simonsberg-Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa
Grapes: 100% Grenache Noir – ABV: 13.5%
Tasting notes: Lean, fresh, and deeply perfumed. It displays layers of wild strawberry, pomegranate, and orange peel, resolving into a lingering, savory finish accented by liquorice, spice, and grippy tannins.
Pairing: Best served lightly chilled at 12–14°C. It matches brilliantly with a soft beef fillet, pan-seared duck breast, or earthy wild mushroom risotto.
Producer: Alinea Wines
La Bri Affinity 2022
La Bri is one of the oldest Huguenot-allocated farms in the historical Franschhoek Valley, tracing its rich roots back to 1694. In 2022, ownership transitioned to the von Kuenheim family, who continue to run it as a state-of-the-art, boutique gravity-fed cellar. The vineyards sit on sandy loam soils at the base of the majestic Franschhoek Mountains, catching generous daytime heat balanced by cold mountain shadow drainage at night. “Affinity” represents the estate’s signature, highly decorated Bordeaux-style red blend.
The 2022 vintage is a wonderfully refined, rich, and intensely expressive blend that is aged for 18 months in premium French oak barrels. Pouring a dense, deep ink-black plum color, the wine opens with an intricate, complex nose of dark cassis, black cherry, dried potpourri, tobacco leaf, and smoky cedar oak. The palate is full-bodied, dense, and structured, displaying a gorgeous balance of fine, firm tannins and a juicy, lingering dark fruit finish.
Appellation: Franschhoek Valley, Coastal Region, South Africa
Grapes: 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot – ABV: 14.15%
Tasting notes: Complex, rich, and refined. It shows pronounced aromas of cassis, cherry tobacco, and vanilla spice, leading into a full, well-balanced palate with firm tannins and lingering black fruit juiciness.
Pairing: Best served at 16–18°C. This signature blend is built for slow dinners, pairing beautifully with grilled ribeye steak, roasted venison, or rich lamb shank.
Producer: La Bri Estate
