Blankbottle - Moment of Silence (2023)

From the winemaker Pieter Walser:

This is an all out Wellington warm climate blend of a bush-vine high altitude Chenin blanc vineyard, an old bush-vine Chenin on the valley floor with some Viognier. Please note that we usually have Grenache blanc in this wine as well. But I was not happy with the Grenache of 2023 so I did not use it in the blend.

The Story:

At tastings I often get the question: "How do you conceptualise new wines?"

Although normally a firm believer in strategic planning, when it comes to new wines, I plan NOT to plan. You can never force a wine, you just need to follow the road you're on. The journey normally starts with a friend, which typically leads to another friend, new areas and vineyards. Ultimately I end up with a wine that expresses the journey more than the actual destination, a combination of these people and their habitat.

The perfect example of such a wine is the Moment of Silence. It's been a journey of epic proportion from the first vintage in 2007 until today - the release of the 2021 vintage. It all started off with a friend, Jan de Villiers, who took me to Wellington to meet a farmer. To be honest, I wasn't too keen on the area at first but by lunchtime that day I had completely changed my view. What made that meeting so significant in hindsight, was that I was unknowingly about to buy grapes from a farm originally owned by my direct family 7 generations ago and our meeting that day took place around the original Hauptfleisch dining room table owned by my family! It was only after 2 vintages of buying these grapes and making Moment of Silence, that my mom discovered this whilst doing a family tree - quite a confirmation don't you think?

Boberg: This vineyard grows on top of the Groenberg mountain in Wellington in decomposed granite. It was a neglected bush vine Chenin blanc vineyard that was recently resurrected and now being converted into an organically farmed parcel.

Hangbal: A super old bush-vine Chenin blanc that grows on the lower slopes on the northern side of the Groenberg. Works really well and I foresee a promising future for this component.

Taaiboslaagte: And the last 7% of the wine is made up of a conventionally farmed Viognier Vineyard.Fermentation took place spontaneously in various vessels - Concrete egg shaped tanks, Amphore and older French oak. Aged for 8 months on the lees blended and bottled.