Description
From Boekenhoutskloof to Alheit La Colline, Franschhoek old-vine Semillon has been responsible for some of South Africa’s most captivating wines in recent times. Now Jacques Wentzel of Black Elephant Vintners enters the fray with a quite magnificent offering in the form of The Dark Side of the Vine 2015. Grapes from a single vineyard planted in 1905 in the Bo-Hoek area of the ward, the winemaking involved 24 hours of skin contact before spontaneous fermentation and maturation lasting 12 months in two old 500-litre French oak barrels. The aromatics are stunning with notes of hay, fynbos, blackcurrant, white peach, yellow apple and naartjie plus vanilla and spice while the palate shows fantastic concentration, fantastic composure and fantastic length. It’s one of the most exciting wines of the year. 97/100. Wine Magazine SA – Christian Eedes
Producer Information: Black Elephant
This is an interesting new project in Franschhoek, that's a partnership between Kevin Swart, who came to wine after a career in finance, and winemaker Jacques Wentzel. ‘We have been here for just over three years,’ says Kevin. ‘We fell into the wine industry by accident. We were ardent drinkers but we didn’t know too much about it.’
'I think we started the business the wrong way round,' he continues. 'We made wine, labelled it and started selling it to friends. We then established a wine company. We only make what we like and drink.’
Black Elephant was formed by a merger of Kevin's wine farm, La Petite Vigne, and Amistad, a wine company that Jacques had been involved with. The current portfolio consists of a horizontal range of wines, each its own separate brand, and not obviously connected. It's an interesting strategy that seems to be working for them.
