Kleine Zalze Project Z Riesling Verdelho, WO Western Cape

Description

Kleine Zalze Project Z Riesling Verdelho is a South African white wine made from grapes sourced from the Western Cape. Kleine Zalze’s Project Z range of wines is a that allows the estate’s winemakers free reign to interact with nature, to search for the ultimate expression from a vineyard and push the boundaries of creativity and innovation in order to keep growing and evolving. As well as this superb white wine, there are also various other bottlings including Project Z Chenin Blanc, Chenin Blanc Skin Contact, Syrah and Sweet Fortified wine.

Kleine Zalze is a a South African winery situated in the heart of the Cape Winelands and the history of winemaking there can be traced back as far as 1695. However, the modern history of the estate began when Kobus Basson and his family bought the property in 1996, and there was a large stride forward. In 1996 the estate was scientifically mapped to find the best terroir for different grape varieties and seventeen years of subsequent investment have seen Kleine Zalze become one of the most highly regarded wineries in South Africa. In September 2022 ownership passed to French-owned AdVini, a world-renowned French wine company, thereby beginning a new chapter for Kleine Zalze Wines.

The winery achieved new heights in 2020 by being named Top Performing Winery of the Year by Platter’s South African Wine Guide, which is the South African bible. More recently, Kleine Zalze won four Double Golds and the Best Achiever award at the highly acclaimed Veritas Awards 2022.

The grapes for Kleine Zalze Project Z Riesling Verdelho were sourced from Durbanville and Elgin in the case of the Riesling and Koekenaap for the Verdelho. The Verdelho grows very close to the Atlantic Ocean on the West Coast of South Africa and has naturally high acidity and a low pH. The Riesling was harvested early morning and fermented in stainless-steel tanks before maturation in an amphora as well as a component in older French barrels. The Verdelho had a more interesting journey – harvested and pressed at a custom crush facility on the West Coast and then transported on the back of a bakkie (the local name for a light truck or pickup truck) to be fermented and matured in an amphora in Stellenbosch.

Only 1042 bottles of the 2020 vintage were produced.

Under the guidance and expertise of Theo Paul Voster, a renowned artist, each winemaker created a visual expression of hidden elements of nature that inspire them. The very first linocut print of each artwork was used to create the labels for the wine.