De Keur Grenache | The Second Vintage

This is the second wine from the high altitude, bushvine, dry-grown Grenache Noir on De Keur farm in the Ceres Plateau WO. The project began in 2015.

The 2.9 hectare vineyard is situated 1060 metres above sea level north of Ceres in the Koue Bokkeveld on Jeannette’s family’s farm, De Keur. This isolated vineyard is on a west-facing slope that can not be irrigated (otherwise there would be apples and pears planted).

The project started in 2015 when a top winemaker-friend contacted us about planting a vineyard on this slope. He was scouting the Koue Bokkeveld for possible sites to plant to grapes. The vines were sourced in 2016 by Rosa Kruger (who also guided us with all things viticulture for the first few years), but due to the drought we kept the stokkies dormant in a cool room and planted in 2017 ahead of the winter rains. We selected 4 clones of Grenache Noir, mostly the old GN70 clone, and a mix of the (then) new 513, 516 and 1064 clones.

They focus on making small batches and only sourcing grapes from single vineyards to let each unique terroir speak for itself.

Vintage 2023

The wine is made by Lukas van Loggerenberg, and we are thrilled with what he has done. The 2023 was picked on March 3rd. Lukas fermented with approximately 20% stems and maceration lasted three weeks. Elevage was done in 300L French oak barrels, and the wine was bottled in December 2023. Only 2500 bottles were produced.

It is a wondrously fine and detailed wine considering the youth of the vines. No doubt the altitude has assisted with the perfume and intensity of the nose. Long ripening has enabled the tannins to be become harmonious with the fruit. Fresh and savoury.

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.