Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru “Vieille Vigne du Levant” 2010

"In 2013, I released a wine called Familiemoord - a wine about the extraordinary but true story of how the police thought I killed my son and buried him in a shallow grave in the vacant property next to our house. The Cape Argus' article on 11 May 2013 about the incident titled “The mystery of the boy in the sandpit” serves as this wine’s label. Don’t worry, my son is alive and well and is turning 14 in September - 7 years after I “killed” him. This wine has generated the most reaction of any wine I have ever produced - and not for any of the reasons a winemaker would hope for. In fact, most people were totally oblivious as to the terroir (Swartland) or cultivar (Grenache noir) of the 2013 vintage! Some countries were uncomfortable with the name, so in 2015 I stopped producing it. But in 2018 when the dust has settled Familiemoord came back and this is the release of the 2019 - which in this case is not a 2019 but a non vintage… A blend of Wellington Grenache, Elgin Pinot and Darling Cinsaut. When it comes to Familiemoord, having all the components of a similar vintage are not that important to me. The 2019 vintage Grenache was a little bit lighter than usual. I had in barrel some 2018 and a little bit of that made the Grenade component a little bit plusher and when you mix different vintages the wine needs to be labelled as a non-vintage.The Grenache fermented whole clusters in an open top fermentation vessel. The 2018 component is from a trellised vineyard in Wellington where the 2019 is from a bush Vine Organically Certified Wellington Vineyard. The Pinot noir from Elgin were fermented 50% whole cluster and the Cinsaut from darling, 100% whole clusters. The fine crunchy tannins that come from the stems give this rather low in acid wine a sense of freshness." - Winemaker Note