Painted Wolf Solo Roussanne 2023
About
Painted Wolf Wines is boutique family business and conservation supporter.
They produce a range of premium and super premium wines, focused on Chenin Blanc, Pinotage and Rhone varietals such as Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache, Carignan and Syrah. They work with top growers in a number of key appellations in South Africa, sourcing organic or sustainably farmed grapes. Conservation is key to their business and they donate around 4% of revenue to African wild dog (Painted Wolf) and other conservation concerns.
This wine is named for Solo of the Serengeti, the Painted Wolf (African wild dog) pup who inspired Hugo van Lawick and Jane Goodall’s ground- breaking 1978 film and book about the species. The name Solo was also given to a lone wild dog at Mombo in the Okavango about whom a fascinating documentary was made. Roussanne, native to the warmer regions of France’s Rhône valley, is a relative newcomer and still very rare in South Africa. There are fewer than 10 South African producers and Painted Wolf proud to be ranked among the top.
Roussanne is grown on the south-eastern side of the Paardeberg. The vines are planted on decomposed granite soils. The grapes were hand-harvested riper than usual, whole-bunch pressed and fermented slowly with natural yeast. The wine spent 8 months in a 500-litre barrel, with daily stirring of the lees.
Total production 3,108 bottles.
Style and Values
- Type: Bottle
- Closure: Cork
- ABV: 13.5%
- Country: South Africa
- Vint: 2023
- Food Match : Light dishes, but also French onion soup. And works well with roasted squash and Autumn vegetables
- Awards:
- Tasting Notes: Bursting with stone fruit aromas, this is a wonderfully complex wine with a slight waxiness combined with vanilla and fresh minerality on the palate. Painted Wolf Wines advise that their Roussannes age particularly well, and this wine will become even more interesting and complex over the next ten years.
- Grape Types: Roussanne
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