This is a shimmering blend of Chenin Blanc (which sees about six hours skin contact), Grenache Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, both of which were fermented in oak. This wine is singing right now with stone fruit notes of peach and apricot and a subtle melon character. There is a slight kerosene complexity to the wine. This is pretty classy stuff, with a nice, leesy texture, slightly honeyed on the palate with a zippy finish.

South Africa’s wine scene has to be one of the most exciting and dynamic in the world right now, having been thrust forwards in recent years by an influx of creative and innovative winemakers dominating and evolving the industry. Rascallion is a relative newcomer to Stellenbosch - the brainchild of Ross Sleet, who spent years working at a number of high-ranking SA wineries, it’s dedicated to bringing the art of blending to a country which has historically only dealt with single varietal bottles. Sleet’s brand is based 100% on blended wines, and he has set himself the mission of demonstrating how the country’s signature varietals (among a handful of others selected for body, colour, and depth) can work in harmony, aging alongside each other to produce wines which are more than the sum of their parts. The results have been impressive, to say the least, and will no doubt be enormously influential upon the next generation of innovative Stellenbosch innovators. Even more importantly, they taste fantastic!