Elpidios, Swartland, 2020

The 2021 vintage consists of five Grenache noir vineyards, the core being a vineyard from the Paardeberg planted in the early 2000’s. Joining this vineyard is another Paardeberg vineyard, recently planted on the north-eastern side of the Langkloof valley, overlooking the Aprilskloof. Another addition is a 2016 planted vineyard in schist of the Kasteelberg. This vineyard was planted on terraces high up in the mountain. Finally, Grenache noir from a farm north of Malmesbury was also added, a vineyard we have been working with since 2012. Twelve different pickings were done from the five Grenache noir vineyards. A component (60%) of the wine was fermented and matured in concrete. Juice was kept on the skins for four weeks pre- /during fermentation and 60% whole bunches were used. One punch down per day was done resulting in minimal and gentle extraction. The wine was pressed off and matured in old 500 L neutral French oak barrels as well as a 2 700 L concrete vessel for a year.