{"product_id":"blankbottle-smaug-the-magnificent-voor-paadeberg-western-cape-south-africa-2021-case","title":"BLANKBOTTLE, Smaug the Magnificent, Voor-Paadeberg, Western Cape, South Africa, 2021 (Case)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"product__description rte quick-add-hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan id=\"bb_quick_overview\"\u003eLike with most great things in life - this wine originated with a really bad experience where the liquor board stopped the sales of the 2011 vintage. A blend of Roussanne, Grenache blanc, Marsanne, Verdelho and Grenache Gris.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Story:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow it all started back in 2011:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the back of my warehouse, way into the corner, I have what I call The Drinking Stash. This is where you would want to be left unsupervised if there was any specific sold-out BLANKBOTTLE wine you liked. The last 24 bottles of almost every wine I produce go there (except the ones I over-sell by mistake and end up having to buy a bottle back from my agents overseas).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, in that drinking stash you would for instance find wines like the very first bottling of Moment of Silence (2007). Whenever I drink an older white like that I am blown away by the ability of South African whites to age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2011, I bottled a white wine - a blend of Roussanne, Chenin blanc, Verdelho and Palomino. In South Africa, all wines have to go to the regulatory board\/control agency after bottling, where they go through 3 checks. Firstly they check the paper trail to confirm that what’s in the bottle is what you claim it to be. They then analyse the wine for all sorts of much-too-complicated-to-explain stuff and it finally gets tasted by a board of winemakers who then approves or rejects the wine for export.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis specific wine, the 2011 vintage, was initially approved. After a year the approval expired and at that stage I still had at least 500 bottles to sell. I then had to re-submit, which I did, but at that point the wine was rejected by the tasting board. Now, you have the option to appeal, but at the time, I had much more pressing issues on my plate, so I transferred the bin towards my drinking stash to deal with later.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the years went by, I would grab a bottle to drink at home every once in a while, and each time I opened a bottle, I liked it more. November 2016, 5 years after bottling, I showed my UK agents the wine. They loved it and wanted to buy it all. So I took a chance and re-submitted the wine to the board - it was approved! I then urgently needed a label for the wine, I mean, a sale is a sale…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy son Luca drew a picture of the dragon of Lord of the Rings, “Smaug the Magnificent\". So I made him an offer: a retainer per bottle I sell in exchange for the use of his sketch. He accepted and I released a 5 year old white blend with super success!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"BLANKBOTTLE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58099357155708,"sku":"CASE7186","price":159.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0628\/1812\/3999\/files\/Blank-Bottle-Smaug-the-Magnificent-copy-e1570509634748_6979be59-bef4-403f-8bb4-b518a3c54704_1.png?v=1793658707","url":"https:\/\/thefinewinecompany.co.uk\/products\/blankbottle-smaug-the-magnificent-voor-paadeberg-western-cape-south-africa-2021-case","provider":"The Fine Wine Company Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}