BLANKbottle Jimmy 2023

Every once in a while you find a vineyard that is truly special. But for a small producer, it’s often impossible to buy the whole vineyard due to the size of the production, so you are forced to share. Jimmy is 100% Verdelho from a few rows of a really big vineyard in the Voor-Paardeberg.

A couple of decades ago a guy called Polla Brand drove the first Suzuki Jimny into South Africa from Namibia. The car ended up with a family member on a farm in the Voor Paardeberg. Come winter, the other vehicles struggled in the mud and slippery clay but the Suzuki, with its short wheelbase, cruised through really difficult terrain. Immediately gaining respect. From then on, the farmer, his son and his grandson (the current farmer) only drives Suzuki 4x4’s on the farm. The current farmer also happens to be the Western Cape champion, racing in the Dunes along the West Coast of South Africa - with his little hyped-up supercharged Suzuki - hence the inspiration for the label. Verdelho is a really interesting variety to farm with in South Africa. It loves heat and has this unique characteristic of maintaining high acid levels in really ripe conditions. This is a variety that you need to keep an eye on during harvest. It gains sugar at an immense rate with the challenge of picking it before it gets too ripe.

"Willie Mostert - the grower of the year in my 2023 report - supplies the grapes for this Voor Paardeberg Verdelho. Fermented and aged in concrete eggs, it shows the mouth-watering acidity that's part of the variety's DNA, wet stone minerality and flavours of lime, green apple and waxed lemons." - Tim Atkin MW

Tim Atkin - 91 Points

Bottle size: 750ml

Alc: 13%