Winefellas

Winefellas and the Ultra Liquors Klerksdorp Group is pleased to announce that Ultra Liquors Potchefstroom is open for business.

Abrie Beeslaar, the winemaker at Kanonkop Wine Estate and visionary behind the award winning Kanonkop Paul Saur 2015 has a self proclaimed love affair with Pinotage wines. This love affair led to the establishment of Beeslaar Wines, a small family-run business, specializing in the production of handcrafted, high-end Pinotage wines, originating from a single-vineyard site in the heart of the Cape Winelands. Abrie’s aim was to produce wines that embody and personify the many beautiful characteristics of a grape variety that was born and bred in South African soils.

Wine Fellas is proud to introduce the Beeslaar Pinotage 2019 to our pinotage loving wine community. This wine boasts concentrated aromas of black cherries, Christmas cake, wild strawberries, plums and cinnamon spice. The nose has that typical Beeslaar perfumed character, with an underlying earthy tone. Beautifully poised and elegant, with fine tannins to support the broad, plush fruit spectrum. The palate is mouth- filling and effortlessly balanced, with lingering savoury notes on the finish.

We have a very limited amount of Beeslaar Pinotage available, please place your orders as soon as possible.
R530 per bottle
R3000 per case of 6

TASTING NOTES
In the middle of 2016 we commissioned a writer friend to write a series of short children’s stories about growing up the Cape, and we used these stories as the inspiration for the names for our red wines.

The 2019 Wanderer’s Heart is our Cape Red – a wine that is built around the incredible vineyards found all over the Western Cape. Aromas of ruby grapefruit, dark red berries and cassia bark. The wine is poised on the palate with soft, chalky tannins, which give way to a finish of black cherries, cedar wood and cinnamon. The wine is bright and keenly balanced, very pure in its fruit with a dusting of fine tannin to complete the picture.

NUTS & BOLTS
Grenache noir – 66% Voor Paardeberg (7 years, clay soil), Paardeberg (14 years old, granite)
Mourvèdre – 23% Bot River (12 years old) – gravel/clay duplex soil
Syrah – 11% Bot River (12 years old) - shale

R245 per bottle

Kindly click on our WhatsApp button to place your orders.

Jean Engelbrecht, ’n trotse Afrikaner en eienaar van die merkwaardige Rust en Vrede wynlandgoed raak filosofies as hy oor wyn gesels.
“Wyn bring mense nader aan mekaar,” verduidelik hy. “As jy ’n glasie wyn klink bevorder dit kommunikasie tussen mense. Dit bou brûe.” In November 2019 is Rust en Vrede se nuuste skepping bekend gestel, ’n wyn genaamd Afrikaans. Hierdie wyn is geskep ter viering van Afrikaans as ’n taal, ongeag wie dit praat en geniet, met geen politiese oorwegings nie. Die gedig getiteled ‘My taal’ wat agter op die etiket verskyn beklemtoon die gedagte agter die wyn en fokus op die ervaring wanneer jy dit drink: Skoon, elegant, stylvol, eenvoudig, en sinvol. Boonop smaak dit lekker

My taal

My taal is ’n vuur
Waarom vriende laatnag sit
Of dalk is dit ’n veldbrand
Wat niemand ooit kan blus.

Met my taal skets ek ’n prentjie
Van dit wat in my is
en my woorde wys die krake
Die donker en die lig.

My taal kan mense opbou
of als in stukke breek.
’n Monster of ’n engel
ek kan kies wie ek wil wees.

Wat bly van my oor
As ek sien hoe nietig ek is?
Net my taal sal my kan woorde gee
Vir dit wat ewig is.

Sonder jou is ek arm
Sonder jou is ek kaal
My taal
Afrikaans

Elvis Blue

Rooi - R200
Wit - R150
Proe-Kardoes (vier rooies en twee wittes) - R1100

Wine Fellas is trots om Rust en Vrede se Afrikaans wyne aan u bekend te stel. Afrikaans Vol III Cabernet Savignon/Cinsault verkoop teen R200 per bottel en Afrikaans Vol III Chenin/Chardonnay verkoop teen R150 per bottel. Ons bied dan ook 'n Proe-Kardoes aan teen R1100 waarin U vier rooies en twee wittes kry. Omdat daar slegs 'n beperkte aantal van hierdie wyne beskikbaar is, is ons voorraad baie beperk. Plaas asseblief U bestellings so spoedig doenlik deur op ons Whatssap knoppie te klik

Winefellas is privileged to have a very limited amount of this stunning red wine from Restless River, The High Road & Dignity available.
R550 per bottle.
Kindly place your order to avoid certain disappointment

Dear Wine-Lovers,

BLANKBottle's BIG was our most popular offering from this wine farm and arguably their best. We ran out.
But because of your interest we managed to secure the last of the stock available. Kindly click our Whatsapp button to place your order and avoid certain disappointment!

R279.99 per bottle

Dear Wine-Lovers,

The BLANKBottle wines have been quite popular thanks to your interest and wine-loving nature.
We only have 10 bottles each of The Empire Strikes Back and Orbitofrontal Cortex left over.
These whites sell for R259.99 each, kindly click on our WhatsApp button to place your order and avoid disappointment.

Dear Wine-lovers, direct from the cellar we have on offer the GLENELLY LADY MAY 2015
A TRUE STELLENBOSCH GRAND VIN. 'THEIR GREATEST CREATION TO DATE' – GS 96

After much anticipation and some high praise both internationally and locally, the 2015 Glenelly Lady May is finally available. This flagship release is now vying for the title of best Stellenbosch Bordeaux red; delivering on all expectations of one of the finest Stellenbosch properties. It is pure class.

Cabernet Sauvignon-based with 13% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Lady May exudes elegance and finesse with fine-grained tannins and a fresh, detailed finish. At a tasting earlier this year, it stood tall alongside Bordeaux greats from the equally impressive 2015 Bordeaux vintage. Local wine writer Christian Eedes went so far as to highlight it as the best in the line-up with 96 points.

R3300 per case of 6

Kindly klick on our WhatsApp button to place your order. Please be aware that stock is very limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

Dear Wine-Lovers, please save and send a message to the following number to become part of our early bird message service: 082 557 6631

Your details will be protected and added to a broadcast list only used to convey details regarding special wine offers

Just in time for Easter Weekend, Winefellas has on offer our BLANKBottle Tasting box at a discounted cost!

Included in your box:
2 x BIG
2 x Little WIlliam
1 x Orbitofrontal Cortex
1 x The Empire Strikes Back

R1499.99 Kindly click on our WhatsApp button to place your order and avoid disappointment.

Winefellas' last offering from BLANKBottle wines, the Orbitofrontal Cortex. The idea behind this wine was (and still is) to select the white components in the winery we like most and to assemble a blend that represents that particular vintage in an honest and pure way. This is OUR favourite wine, not necessarily the best. The one that we as a team like the most. It is not bound to an area or varietal - it is an assembly of interesting things that differs from year to year according to whatever performed well that specific season.

The story behind this wine is quite interesting. Pieter tells it as follows: In October 2015 I was sitting on a plane heading to Joburg, next to a guy who was (or so it seemed) plugged into his computer with wires and stuff. It looked like he was communicating with the machine in a way. Once we had landed I asked him what on earth he was doing. He told me that he and his clinical psychologist business partner had started a marketing company called Neural Sense, based in Cape Town.
They conduct market research by tapping into people's subconscious reactions to various inputs. I love weird things, so I told him I make wine and if ever he wanted to do something with wine he was welcome to get in contact. And he did. Three months later I was sitting at the table in my winery hooked onto machines. All my subconscious reactions (in the LIMBIC part of my brain) to each of the 21 components were to be measured and recorded - a camera looking me in the eyes (for eye reactions), a thing on my finger (for blood oxygen levels), a heart rate monitor on my chest, something on my arm (for arousal levels e.g. heat/sweat) and a mobile EEG device on my head (for monitoring my brain waves).
It was the time of year where I had to make up final blends and I was sitting with 21 different white wine components in barrel, which were ready for blending and bottling. They were all different varietals from different areas and vineyards. So my assistant winemaker, Julia, took samples from all the barrels and put them into glasses, which my wife marked from 1 to 21. For each wine I would first close my eyes, then open them and they would start recording with the camera, hand me any wine and prompt me to nose, taste and spit - constantly monitoring and recording my heart rate, blood stuff and activity in my subconscious.
Of course I can’t control my subconscious - before I think of reacting, I already had. We tasted through all 21 wines. I obviously spat, washed my mouth with water in between and we even did a few with clean water in my mouth and used that as a control or base reaction. This process took a whole day. I like to call it work. Their job was now to analyse the data. The way I understand it is that they look at all the parts of my brain that reacted, compare it with all the other blood and heart monitors and then work out with mathematical algorithm what I liked and disliked.
The analysis of the data took months, so in the meantime Julia and I decided to blend a control - the best possible white blend from the same 21 parcels - making use of our conscious mind; the ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX. When the results came, the two wines were so different! We blended both and bottled the 2 wines.

To avoid disappointment, kindly click our WhatsApp button to place your orders
R259.99 per bottle
R1499.99 per case of six

Something for our white wine lovers. BLANKBottle wine's Empire Strikes Back! An all-STELLENBOSCH white blend of Verdelho from 2 different sites, Roussanne, Marsanne, Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Viognier.

R259.99 per bottle
R1499.99 per case of six

Kindly click our WhatsApp button to place your orders😄

The Retirement@65 is our newest offering from BLANKBottle wines
This is a blend of mostly Darling Cinsault plus a little Grenache and Syrah, winemaker Pieter Walser having discovered an under-utilised 1951 vineyard of Cinsault, wine made from it for the first time in its 69th year of existence. The nose is very perfumed with notes of raspberry, cranberry, candy floss, geranium and fynbos while the palate is light bodied, sour in the best way, the tannins fine and crunchy. Has a lovely energy and balance about it.

R299.99 per bottle
R1699.99 per case of six

Kindly click on our WhatsApp button to place your order. Please be aware that stock is very limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

Winefellas is proud to have on offer, arguably the most radical red wine BLANKBottle Wines has to offer,
the Retirement@65. A little higher in alcohol than the 12% 2019 but to me the best vintage so far. Driven by perfume rather than fruit, fresh and drinkable. Far removed from the style the new world is typically known for. With the block of Cinsaut now 69 years of age it ironically comes to life at the age of Retirement… Added to the Cinsaut is a little dash of Shiraz from the same area.

R299.99 per bottle
R1699.99 per case of six

Let it not be in vain

The story behind the latest offering from BLANKbottle Wines, the B.I.G as told by Pieter its creator:

The Swartland Revolution was exactly that: a revolution initiated by Swartland farmers which turned the premium wine market upside down. Suddenly premium higher-priced Bordeaux-style Stellenbosch wines had to share the stage with premium Rhone-style Swartland blends. And so it happened then, that for the past 8 years, the media stuck Cabernet Sauvignon in a dark and dusty corner - not “cool” enough.
As some of you might know, at the moment I make wine from 24 varieties. I thought it a bright idea to do something for the neglected, fallen-from-grace Cabernet Sauvignon. I subsequently identified 8 Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, 2 Cabernet franc and 1 Petit Verdot with vastly different heights above sea level: 7 near Somerset West (at 32 to 391 m), 2 on the outskirts of Tulbagh (both at 310 m) and 2 in the Witzenberg’s Koue Bokkeveld (at 734 and 755m).
When I first started speaking to the masters of Cabernet here at the Southernmost tip of Africa, the first thing mentioned by most was the dreaded Greenness in Cabernet Sauvignon - a very unwelcome herbaceous / vegetative character. This develops due to high levels of Pyrazines present in the wine - something that's determined by the ripeness level of the grapes. The longer the grape bunches get exposed to sunlight during the growing period, the less Pyrazines - resulting in less greenness in the end product - reducing herbaceousness and amplifying fruit.
Here in South Africa we have a unique situation: although we have plenty of sunshine, it is hot and dry. In most instances, by the time the grapes are ripe for picking, it hasn't had long enough sun exposure for the Pyrazines to get to an acceptable level. And if you leave it on the vine for longer, the sugar level gets too high. These sugars are then transformed during fermentation into alcohol resulting in rather high alcoholic wines.
So in general, Cabernet creators are in fact chased by the Green Monster. Defended by some, feared by most. What confuses me, though, is that one could argue that this greenness is a stylistic characteristic of wines closer to the ocean, which makes it acceptable. Or does it? Where the exact point lies where herbaceousness turns into greenness - I am not sure.

R280.00 per bottle

R1600.00 per case of 6

Kindly click on our WhatsApp button to order your wine. Please note that stock is limited

Dear Winelovers, we are pleased to introduce the next offering from BLANKbottle Wines, the B.I.G, and it promises to live up to its name.

According to Pieter, the wine maker at BLANKbottle, the name B.I.G. does not refer to the style of the wine but to the magnitude of the blend. This wine represents Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa. The first vintage of this wine was in 2015 and it had six vineyards in the final blend, all Cabernet Sauvignons from different heights above sea level. In the 2018 vintage, it grew to 11 vineyards - 8 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 Cabernet franc and 1 Petit Verdot. And I adjust the label accordingly. The label shows a landscape and identifies all the vineyards that went into the final wine. The final blend: UNITY, My eie plaas, LAN, COR-CS, COR-CF, Sigh of Relief, Black Nectar TOOLBAG, Mr. VILLA, But Why and Leaving the table.

This wine will appeal to Winelovers with a more traditional palate and love of Cabernet blends

R280.00 per bottle

R1600.00 per case of 6

Kindly click on our WhatsApp button to order your wine. Please be aware that stock is limited.

Something exciting is coming your way

Almost Friday!

Winefellas's current offering to all wine lovers: The Little William 2019

Pale ruby in colour with a medium nose of cherries, strawberries, pomegranate, spices (cardamom, juniper berries, white pepper and musky mace), orange peel, rosemary stalks, slight leather, rusty iron and slight liquorice.

Dry, light bodied, medium+ acidity and low tannins. Medium intensity red fruits and herbs with a medium+ finish that ends in those exotic spices and a hint of tart orange juice.

Nope…it’s not Pinot Noir. It’s Syrah.

R280 per bottle
R1600 per case of 6
Kindly note that stock is very limited and is available on a first come first serve basis. Please use our WhatsApp button to place your order to avoid dissapointment

The Wine maker's tasting notes on the Little William 2019 please click on this link https://blankbottle.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/L-Will-19.m4a

blankbottle.co.za

Wine Fellas would like to introduce you to the Little William 2019 from BLANKbottle Winery.

Wine maker Pieter tells the story behind this remarkable wine:
In January 2016, I was driving back from a tiny little vineyard in the Koue Bokkeveld (Ceres Plateau). Cruising along at the 100km/h speed limit, I came to a very winding stretch of road leading towards the Witzenberg pass. Suddenly, for a split second, I thought I saw something in the middle of the road. I had just come through a super sharp bend and had to jump on the brakes with both feet. When I finally got my 470 000-km-on-the-clock Toyota to stop, there, on the white line in the middle of the road, stood a little blonde boy. I guessed him around a year and a half old. He was in his nappies and had a white T-shirt on, perfectly camouflaged on the white line. Unsure of what to do once I'd taken him out of the road, I thought it a good plan to prompt him and see which direction he takes off in (with myself of course right behind).
About 200 meters further along the road he (we) crossed a little bridge heading towards the other side of the canal. He turned up a dirt road which led to a farmhouse about 300 meters up a hill. Keeping up to his snail-like pace, we arrived at the house more or less 10 minutes later (in my experience with farm dogs, it wouldn’t have been wise to carry him). When the gardener saw us approaching, he called out to a woman at the house and judging by her reaction, she must’ve been his mom and he must’ve been missing for a while.
It was a bit of an emotional and chaotic environment so, knowing he was safe, I just turned around and left without introducing myself.
So each time I present a tasting with Little William wine as part of the line-up, I get the same question: “Why is it called, Little William?”, followed almost without fail by: “What does the family have to say about you calling a wine, Little William?” My answer is always the same: “I never went back, they don't even know the wine exists. But I am convinced there will be this one day where I’d be sitting at some local bar in Knysna, drinking a beer all by myself when the young guy next to me turns to me and introduces himself as William from Ceres." And I’ll be able to tell him: “Eendag, lank, lank gelede het hierdie oom jou lewe gered!”
For 4 years I had the privilege of telling the story of little William. Until last year. When Chapter 2 happened.
In November, we took our youngest son for a minor operation at Panorama Mediclinic, Tygerberg, Cape Town. The lady at reception looked at us with a puzzled look on her face. We later learnt that there had been a mistake on the paperwork and they were under the impression that he was an adult. They had subsequently booked him into an adult ward. The man next to him had drunk a cup of coffee at 6:00am that morning with milk in. His operation therefore had to be postponed and he obviously missed his theatre time slot. He had to wait almost the whole day for the next slot. He and Sebastian eventually left for the theatre at more or less the same time. I went to get us a cup of coffee, and as she always does, Aneen started making conversation with the milk-in-the-coffee guy’s wife. On my return Aneen said: ”They are from Ceres, tell her the little William story.” I cringed, thinking: "Why would I do that??" I tried to let her comment slide and filled the awkward silence with useless words. We carried on with the small talk and she ended up telling us that she is a vet and her husband is a farmer. “Where do you farm in Ceres?”, I asked. “In the Witzenberg mountains, on a farm called Blah-blah-blah”, she answered.
And, as you’ve probably guessed by now, that was the name of the farm where I dropped little William that morning. It started dawning on me that it might be my Knysna-bar-thing moment happening in a totally bizarre, different way. “Do you have a son called William?” I asked. “No”, she replied, “but my nephew is called William and they live on the same farm, in the house next to the road.” We did the sums and he would’ve been exactly 1 and a half years at the time. So it turns out it wasn't a beer-in-hand pub in Knysna, but a coffee-in-hand hospital in Cape Town. I should've listened to Aneen right from the start... so I told her the whole story and she phoned her sister-in-law. “Did you ever lose William on the farm?” she asked (I don’t think that’s the type of story you volunteer to tell your extended family if not prompted). “Yes”, she said. “There was this one day…”

The wine itself:
Pale ruby in colour with a medium nose of cherries, strawberries, pomegranate, spices (cardamom, juniper berries, white pepper and musky mace), orange peel, rosemary stalks, slight leather, rusty iron and slight liquorice.

Dry, light bodied, medium+ acidity and low tannins. Medium intensity red fruits and herbs with a medium+ finish that ends in those exotic spices and a hint of tart orange juice.

Nope…it’s not Pinot Noir. It’s Syrah.

Should you be interested in tasting this wine kindly place your order via our WhatsApp button.
R280 per bottle
R1600 per case of 6

Winefellas would like to introduce you to Pieter Walser and the BLANKbottle winery from Somerset West: "I appeal to the adventurous wine drinker. They buy my wines because they trust me. They give me money to take them on a journey" Pieter says, and this offering will undoubtedly take you on a wine-drinking journey of discovery. A few questions answered on the BLANKbottle website tells the story:

DESCRIBE BLANKBOTTLE IN ONE SENTENCE. Clothes maketh not the man; judge my wines on what’s in the bottle, not by means of preconceived ideas.

WHEN AND HOW DID THE BLANKBOTTLE WINERY START? In 2004, a lady came to my house (then also my office) to buy wine. She asked for anything but Shiraz. “I don’t drink Shiraz”, were her exact words. I poured her a glass of wine. She loved it and bought 3 cases. It was a straight Shiraz.
Having no indication of cultivar on the bottle, not only demands complete honesty when it comes to quality, but it allows me the opportunity to introduce once-off limited runs of interesting wines. An honest brand that had no limitations when it came to style, vintage, area or cultivars. Something for someone with an open mind and an adventurous heart.

SO, DOES THAT MEAN YOU NEVER REPEAT A WINE FROM YEAR TO YEAR? No, I do repeat wines. In the beginning years I made different wines every year. But as time went on, I grew attached to some vineyards and committed to making them year on year, for example Moment of Silence. At the moment, roughly 30% of my wines are once-off wines. If they perform well, they will stay on.

SO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN WINERY BUT NO FARM? Yes, at the moment I can’t afford one but then again owning a farm limits you to the vineyards on your specific farm. I love traveling and experiencing many different areas. I want to convey as many different stories as possible from as many areas as possible – if I can one day have 50 wines in my portfolio I would be happy.

HOW MANY VINEYARDS DO YOU BUY GRAPES FROM? In the 2020 harvest we picked 120 tons from about 70 vineyards; 35 different varietals – anything from Fernao Pirez to Cabernet. This year we bottled well over 40 different wines.

ON A PRACTICAL LEVEL, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE INVOLVED IN SO MANY VINEYARDS? I work with great farmers and knowledgeable viticulturists. I make wines from almost all the areas in the Western Cape. They all ripen at different times. In the beginning of harvest I only focus on the first, maybe 10, in Wellington and Darling. As I am picking through the first 10, I start looking at the next in line to possibly ripen. I carry on like that and 13000 km and 100 days later we normally pick the last vineyard in the Witzenberg.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB? Being able to tell stories through wine.

SO YOU DESIGN YOUR OWN LABELS? Yes, it started off 15 years ago on Microsoft word – due to a lack of funds to pay designers. In 2008 there was a dramatic change, but that is a long story. See Epileptic Inspiration under wines now selling. It then turned into a part time hobby and nowadays it forms part of what I do. I love it!

Happy Monday! Winefellas are planning something special for this week. We will keep you posted

Winefellas's cover photo