TESTALONGA Mielie & Baby Bandito 2024 Mixed Case

Chenin Blanc - Skin Macerated

Hand harvested and 100% destemmed into open 1500L fermenters. Fermented on the skins for 8 days before being pressed off into a 3300L old oak Foudre and 1 x 1500L barrels. After 4 months the wine was blended and aged in one 10 000L fibreglass tank. No yeast (or other) inoculation or additives apart from a small amount of SO2 shortly before bottling. Ambient fermentation (the juice/ wine is not cooled). 100% malolactic fermentation. "Grapes from a vineyard planted in 1981 on granite. Two weeks of skin contact. Pretty aromatics of soft citrus, orange, potpourri and a hint of white pepper. Lovely fruit expression, bright acidity and a gently savoury finish. Balanced and relatively understated – not too tannic at all." 91 Points - Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za

Chenin Blanc

Note from Craig Hawkins on the label:"There was a heavy influence from street artists. The names of the wines come from expressions that we use as if giving encouragement to a child. “Keep on Punching” is an expression my good friend and hockey mate, Prof Lyal White, used to always say when the going got tough"

Planted in 1961, dry land bush vines, farmed organically. It is a 4-ha block of Chenin planted on the sandstone soils of the Piketberg foothills on the way to Redelinghuys. It’s our oldest block of Chenin vines on soils that lie adjacent to a river, this provides enough water throughout the growing season. "Grapes from a Piketberg vineyard planted in 1961. Pear, peach and apple on the nose while the palate is well balanced – this vintage is quite broad with moderate acidity. " 91 Points - Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za

Cinsaut

Planted in 1981, bush vine, dryland, farmed organically. This is a 3ha block on the farm of Rick McGrindle. It yields very large delicate grapes with thin skins of a pale complexion. Although 2024 vintage with the good rains preceding harvest added a bit more depth to the wine. 2024 had decent yields that gave good balance in the wine.

Hand harvested and 100% destemmed into open 2000L fermenters. Fermented on the skins for 12 days before being pressed off into a 5000L cement tank and stainless-steel tank. Fermented slightly warmer for a bit more extraction. "Co-fermented with 10% Tannat. Red cherry and a hint of earth on the nose while the palate is light with zippy acidity and very fine, powdery tannins. Entirely smashable." 89 Points - Christian Eedes, zaWinemag.co.

Carignan

Planted in 2001, bush vine,, farmed organically. This is a block that is fairly vigorous for the dry soils of the Swartland and produces a good number of high-quality grapes with very juicy large berries. We try keep as many leaves as possible to shade the block as it can suffer from sunburn.

Hand harvested and 100% whole bunch fermented. The wine does not do carbonic maceration but rather is crushed before going into tank for 12 days of fermentation and then pressed off into two old 3500L Foudre and 500L barrels. The grapes were harvested slightly later compared to previous vintages. "100% whole-bunch fermented. Enticing aromatics of pomegranate, cherry, raspberry, fynbos and white pepper. Light bodied yet intensely flavoured with racy acidity and fine tannins. Layered and long." 95 Points - Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za

Grenache Noir

This range is named after Camilla, Craig and Carla's daughter, who call her "Mielie". These are the only blended wines in the TESTALONGA range - all other wines are single variety-single vineyard.

The Mielie range is an expression of the Swartland as a region made with the same philosophy and attention to detail as all the TESTALONGA wines.

0.75 ha of bush vine trained Grenache noir, organically farmed. Planted in 2018, this is a block with quite a high soil water table as it is situated on a mountain in a “kloof” next to where the winter streams run. Hand harvested and sorted in the vineyard for any undesirable bunches.

Hand harvested and 80% Destemmed into open 2000L fermenters. 20 % whole bunches. Fermented on the skins for 14 days before being pressed off into 500L wooden barrels, and Stainless-steel tank. No yeast (or other) inoculation or additives apart from a small amount of SO2 shortly before bottling.

Chenin Blanc

This range is named after Camilla, Craig and Carla's daughter, who call her "Mielie". These are the only blended wines in the TESTALONGA range - all other wines are single variety-single vineyard.

The Mielie range is an expression of the Swartland as a region made with the same philosophy and attention to detail as all the TESTALONGA wines.

The wine is a blend of three vineyards from the the Swartland. The koffieklip/granite soils near Malmesbury giving bush vines planted in 1981. Bush vines on the foothills of the Piketberg mountains in Moutons Hoek planted in 1961 on deep sandstone soils. The second vineyard planted in 1998 is close to Redelinghuys and 18km from the cold Atlantic ocean on the West Coast. The vineyard is also dry land farmed and gives a specific saltiness to the grapes. All organically and dry land farmed.

Hand harvested and whole bunch pressed. The wine is a blend of three vineyards which were co fermented in a 5000L concrete tank for 6 months then racked off its gross lees and placed back into the concrete tank. No yeast (or other) inoculation or additives apart from a small amount of SO2 shortly before bottling were added.