Sourced from a single 1.6-hectare block on the Bottelary Hills, planted on weathered sandstone and greywacke soils. The 2024/2025 growing season began with a cold, wet winter and a cool, moist spring, giving the vines ample soil moisture and pushing the start of harvest later than usual. Low disease pressure through the season, combined with only two hot days in December that the vines shrugged off without stress, gave way to a warm ripening period marked by pronounced diurnal temperature swings, the conditions behind what the estate calls a classic vintage with real promise for quality and ageability.

Grapes were picked in batches, timed according to the vineyard's varying slope and the ripeness of the stems rather than a single pass, allowing each parcel to be brought in at its optimal moment.A deliberate mix of whole-bunch, whole-berry and destemmed fruit went into open-top fermenters, where fermentation proceeded naturally on indigenous yeast. The cap was managed with both pump-overs and punch-downs twice a day, extracting colour, tannin and aromatic complexity while preserving freshness.

Maturation: Once fermentation and pressing were complete, the wine finished its malolactic conversion naturally in a combination of 500-litre French oak barrels and concrete tanks, a split that builds texture and gentle spice without letting oak dominate the fruit. After 11 months, the wine was blended, lightly filtered and bottled.

Tasting Notes: A youthful, vivid red in the glass hints at a recently bottled wine already showing impressive depth; the nose is expressive and perfumed with wild berries, cranberry and damson plum layered with blueberry and mulberry, lifted by violets and fresh rose petals and underpinned by a whisper of whole‑bunch character and fine peppery, cedar‑tinged spice; on the palate it is vibrant and juicy, bright red and black berry fruit flowing into a core of ripe plum and mulberry, framed by fine‑grained, silky tannins that give structure without weighing down the wine, while a thread of lemony acidity keeps everything taut and precise and the fruit purity is remarkable; the finish is crunchy and refreshing with lingering red fruit, a hint of spice and a mineral edge that draws the palate to a clean, moreish close; this is a Pinotage built on elegance and precision rather than heavy extraction, a deliberate house‑style shift under Kiara Scott Farmer, best enjoyed now through 2030+.

Food Pairing: The wine’s combination of fine tannin, bright acidity and perfumed red fruit makes it an exceptionally versatile table companion: think braai classics like: boerewors, lamb chops or peri‑peri chicken, where the acidity cuts through char and fat; roast or grilled duck breast, whose richness is lifted by the wine’s red fruit and delicate spice; mushroom dishes from wild‑mushroom risotto to mushrooms on toast, echoing the wine’s earthy whole‑bunch undertone; herb‑crusted lamb rump or a Cape Malay‑spiced lamb curry, which find an easy match in the peppery spice notes on the nose; a firm, nutty hard cheese such as aged Gouda or Gruyère, or a soft‑ripened cheese if you prefer contrast; and charcuterie boards built around cured game or biltong that lean into the wine’s savoury edge . Best served at 16–18°C, and ideally decant for 20–30 minutes to let the whole‑bunch and floral notes fully open.

This small 3,050 bottle Pinotage cuvée from the superb 2025 vintage has really allowed Kiara to flex her winemaking expertise with South Africa’s own homegrown cultivar Pinotage. Grown, produced and bottled on the Hazendal Estate, the wine was matured for 11 months in 500 litre French oak barrels along with some concrete tanks. Youthful but already a head-turning beauty, this wine reveals a shimmering, perfumed opulence, boasting intricate notes of violets, freshly picked rose petals, a summer medley of red and black berry fruits, mulberries, bramble berries and a subtle whole bunch sapidity alongside delicate cedar wood spice nuances. In the mouth, the wine is vibrant and fresh, the tannins effortlessly silky and soft, adding just sufficient ballast and frame to the wine. The purity and precision on the palate are breathtaking, the multiple layers of fruit, spices and tangy acidity seamlessly interwoven together creating a very juicy, attractively elegant premium Pinotage. Very impressive indeed. Drink now and over the next 8 to 10 years.  95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

ANALYSIS: ALC 13.5% | TA 5.2g/L | pH 3.8 | RS 1.4g/L