{"product_id":"blankbottle-kortpad-kaaptoe-swartland-south-africa-2025-case","title":"BLANKBOTTLE, Kortpad Kaaptoe, Swartland, South Africa, 2025 (Case)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"product__description rte quick-add-hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eFernão WWHHAATTT\u003c\/em\u003eT\u003cem\u003e?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e was my first thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo understand the remoteness of this site, I invite you to go to Google maps and connect the location points of 3 towns:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMalmesbury, Hopefield and Darling with straight lines - this will form a triangle. If you pinpoint the center, that's about as close as you’ll get to spotting this vineyard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThirteen years ago I asked the owner of the farm for directions - I needed an urgent shortcut to Cape Town… or translated to Afrikaans: a “Kortpad Kaaptoe”. He explained directions using his vineyards as reference points. But then he said: \u003cem\u003eyou take a right at the Fernão Pires\u003c\/em\u003e. Needless to say, it took me a bit longer to get to Cape Town, but I had found my next vineyard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt that point I had never heard of Fernão Pires. Knowing what I know now, the appearance of the plants that day in the sweltering Swartland heat explained it all. You see, being a Portuguese grape varietal and a  product of thousands of years of mutation, the cultivar adapted in order to handle heat and an excess of sunlight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePicture the lightly coloured sandy topsoil reflecting the sun from below and the ball of fire from the top in scorching Swartland summer temperatures - hectic conditions to say the least. The bunches are loose, the berries thickly skinned. And with its fine powder-perfume, fragranced-flavour tasting profile and lower natural acidity, the grape is suited to do 4 pickings in a season, each 3 days apart. This enables me to capture 4 different ripening stages in 4 different wines, which I ultimately combine to form the final wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis wine was pressed as whole bunches and fermented spontaneously in older oak barrels, amphora and concrete egg shaped fermenters. A year on the lees and voila!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI’ve been making this wine since 2012 and think it's the best vintage to date. The other name for the cultivar is Maria Gomes! Beautiful names!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt sounds like the name of a ruler and his princess; the ruler of never-never land: Your Grace, King Fernão Pires and his beautiful Princess Maria Gomes…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDon’t be intimidated by the strangeness of the varietal; you don’t have to pronounce it. After all, you are a BLANKBOTTLE client - and a BLANKBOTTLE client “\u003cem\u003ese ma maak nie bang kinders groot nie\u003c\/em\u003e”. It is a gorgeous wine. Be bold and step into the unknown!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"BLANKBOTTLE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58099261931900,"sku":"CASE7173","price":120.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0628\/1812\/3999\/files\/Blank_Bottle_Kortpad_Kaaptoe_25_1.png?v=1793658695","url":"https:\/\/thefinewinecompany.co.uk\/products\/blankbottle-kortpad-kaaptoe-swartland-south-africa-2025-case","provider":"The Fine Wine Company Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}