Thistle & Weed

Thistle & Weed Nastergal 2024

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Price: R 320.00

Thistle & Weed take their names from the weeds that push up between Cape vines. Etienne Terblanche and Stephanie Wiid see in that stubbornness the same tenacity a vine needs to survive. Nastergal is Solanum Nigrum or Black Nightshade: White flowers, inky purple berries, long gathered for jams and local cooking. The wine earns the name honestly, led by Tempranillo from Wellington for backbone, with Alicante Bouschet; red-fleshed as well as red-skinned, which is where the blackness comes from. A handful of Portuguese varieties chosen because they cope with heat. Components are fermented separately and naturally in open-top vessels, some whole bunch, then matured in older French oak for under a year before blending; bottled unfined. Inky and brooding: blackberry, blueberry and black plum with cinnamon, scrubby bush spice and cracked pepper, the texture plush but taut, tannins tucked under the fruit with beautiful acidic balance. A wine for the table.