17/06/2025
Meet our skin contact Viognier, our showstopper, the one that started it all… the “Pagliaccio”!
The 2025 vintage in Tulbagh was a hot one, and this w**e is not afraid to show off its body. Two weeks natural skin fermentation, basket pressed, and settled in older barrel. Nutmeg and floral notes show on the palette, with juicy orange peel phenolics balancing the higher alcohol, making this the perfect food w**e.
Story time… Pagliaccio is Italian for “clown,” and this w**e is an ode to the two goofy Italians ( + ) we worked the ‘24 harvest with, where they originally experimented with skin contact Viognier. It turned out so beautiful that we bottled it after they went home to Italy, then made it again this year in their honor.
Mattia and Federico, thank you for strip-dancing on punchdown sticks at 11pm to bring a laugh and get the team through the harvest. The memories of you calling everybody “Pagliaccio” and acting like feral zoo animals when we had cellar visitors will forever be engrained in our hearts ❤️