Painted Wolf Guillermo Pinotage 2021

Painted Wolf Wines Guillermo Pinotage is a bright, vibrant expression of Swartland Pinotage from Jeremy and Emma Borg's Painted Wolf, a producer built on sourcing from a small number of growers across South Africa's prime, low-yielding, largely unirrigated sites, and on supporting conservation of the endangered African wild dog. The wine is named for Billy "Guillermo" Hughes, owner of the organically certified Kasteelsig Vineyard and one of Painted Wolf's earliest backers, who traded grapes for shares in the winery in its founding years. Fruit for this wine comes from Kasteelsig alongside sustainably farmed grapes from Werdie farm between Darling and Malmesbury, grown on red Glenrosa and Oakleaf soils over shale-rich duplex ground. Hand-picked into small baskets, the grapes were partly fermented in open bins with hand-punching four times daily and partly in a rototank, fermented with their own wild yeast rather than commercial strains, before maturing for 14 months in a mix of French and American oak, around 30% new. The result is a wine of spicy red berry fruit, evident ripe tannins and a long finish.