In short, 55% Cabernet franc with 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot – all from the Helderberg

The Story

For a start, you have to realise that at the time (2013) I didn’t have a budget for a vineyard consultant. So I was forced to be creative. Strategic vineyard-site selection is where all wine begins. I was mostly focussed on many unusual varietals of which there were very little on offer, so in a way it made it easy to choose a site. You take what you can get.

But I wanted to start making Bordeaux – stuff like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The Helderberg has many plantings but I didn’t have a clue how to separate the chaff from the wheat. And no money to pay someone to do it for me.

So this one particular day I was driving past a vineyard and saw something strange: the picking team was wearing white surgical gloves! I pulled off the road and asked the pickers who they were picking for. At the time there were rumours going round about these guys and I knew that they were spending obscene amounts of cash on local and international consultants in areas like viticulture and soil science – basically terroir fundi’s. Their ultimate goal: to sift through the huge amount of Bordeaux vineyards on offer to pick only the very best. So I asked the farmer if I could buy the grapes as close as possible to the piece going to the White Gloves.

This is my confession about how I started chasing the White Gloves. Where they bought, I bought as close to them as possible. Sometimes right next to them. It was that simple. My creative low-budget strategy.

Confessions of a White Glove Chaser 2020: 55% Cabernet franc with 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot – all from the Helderberg.

The label: I traced the shape of my (at the time) 8-year-old son’s hand and using linography, created the image for the label. The wine, like all my wines: made, hand bottled and hand labeled – by the colourful people of South Africa

Technical Information

Alcoholic Strenght: 14.5%/vol

Acidity: 5.56

PH: 3.61

Reducing Sugar: 1.86 g/l

Free SO2: 31 ppm

Total SO2: 75 ppm

Volatile Acidity: 0.81 g/l

Vegan: Yes