Ex Animo Mixed Case 2025

The second vintage of this high altitude Grenache. The wine is made by Lukas van Loggerenberg, and its second iteration is as fantastic at the first.

The farm is Ex Animo Co-Founder Jeannette's family farm named De Keur in Ceres. Bushvine and dry-grown, this is a very unique site, that is covered in snow in some winters.

For the label, we took inspiration from the meaning of Ex Animo: from the heart. The label is based on an artwork called 'new wine' by Lenka Kuhn that we had commissioned in 2018. It is a line drawing depicting an anatomical human heart using elements of vines.

To reflect that the vineyard is young and maturing, we have planned an evolution of the label for the first five vintages. We will add small components of the label every year culminating in the final version from the 2026 vintage onwards.

This Cabernet – the second vintage under our Die Hart (The Heart) label – is from the cool Walker Bay and was made by Niels and Alice Verburg of Luddite fame. It has a typical Cabernet Sauvignon palate of blackcurrant, herbs, and suprisingly (as there is 0% new oak), cedar. We asked Niels to create a wine that is quintessentially Cabernet Sauvignon, and he hasn't disappointed. Ex Animo means “from the heart” in Latin, we believe this expresses one of the most crucial elements in determining quality. We named this wine in honour of this credo.

This is our Pinotage – 1968 planted (54 year old) bushvine vineyard, grown on Langkloof Farm using organic practices by Scholtz Rossouw. Made again by Jurgen Gouws (of Intellego).We absolutely adore northern Italian reds here at Ex Animo. Pinotage, weirdly enough, when made without massive extraction and from quality fruit, can remind us of a crunchy Dolcetto d'Alba. Enjoy.

Sexy Stellenbosch Syrah from Coenie Fick's farm in the lower Helderberg, made be Bernhard Bredell (Scions of Sinai) we love it. This is a very different wine to Berhard Bredell's syrah, the Swanesang, but we have room in our hearts for both. Intense and primary, but far from simplistic.

The 400L oak vats have given this wine a classic structure without being domineering.

Pulltap's is easily the best value waiter's friend corkscrew brand available in South Africa. We are incredibly happy to be able to offer Ex Animo Wine Co. branded ones for sale. They are solidly built, with a teflon-coated screw and double hinge for better controlled cork extrusion. Enjoy!

Colours vary