With Youth Day on Thursday the 16th of June, we thought it an appropriate time to officially release the 2021 vintage of BLANKbottle Winery’s Little William – a 100% Syrah from a vineyard situated on the Ceres Plateau. The story behind this wine is one of Pieter Walser’s very best and the wine is consistently one of the fastest to sell out.
Dear Reader,
The Syrah for the Little William comes from a vineyard planted at 750 meters above sea level on a farm in the Witzenberg mountains, which is located on the Ceres Plateau.
This is a relatively new South African Syrah, but in a very short space of time, it has become one of the country’s very best examples of the varietal. The wine is whole-bunched pressed and bursts with that peppery, dark berry mix of aroma that Syrah is famous for. The wine is very fresh and low in alcohol due to the altitude. The 2021 vintage is yet another triumph for Pieter and the wine will require some time in bottle.
There are a limited number of 1.5L magnums available and on a request basis only.
”Little William is right up there with my favourite Cape Syrahs.”
Tim Atkin MW | South Africa 2019 Special Report
Little William 2021
R 310 per bottle | R 630 per 1.5L magnum
BLANKbottle Winery | Little William | 2021 | W.O. Ceres Plateau | 100% Syrah
”In January 2016, I was driving back from a tiny little vineyard in the Koue Bokkeveld…I came to a very winding stretch of road leading towards the Witzenberg pass. Suddenly, for a split second, I thought I saw something in the middle of the road. I had just come through a super sharp bend and had to jump on the brakes with both feet…there, on the white line in the middle of the road, stood a little blonde boy. I guessed him around a year and a half old. He was in his nappies and had a white T-shirt on, perfectly camouflaged on the white line. Unsure of what to do once I’d taken him out of the road, I thought it a good plan to prompt him and see which direction he takes off in…About 200 meters further along the road he (we) crossed a little bridge heading towards the other side of the canal. He turned up a dirt road which led to a farmhouse about 300 meters up a hill…we arrived at the house more or less 10 minutes later (in my experience with farm dogs, it wouldn’t have been wise to carry him). When the gardener saw us approaching, he called out to a woman at the house and judging by her reaction, she must’ve been his mom and he must’ve been missing for a while.”
Pieter Walser
Quite remarkably, and only because I think Pieter’s energy attracts these sort of occurrences, the story of Little William has a second chapter which is definitely worth reading. You can find it on the Winery’s official website.
On the 31st of May we sent out a newsletter regarding the start of all new vintage releases from our South African Great Domaines. The newsletter provides for a summary of all important dates to mark your calendar with. If you missed it, you can find it posted on our website HERE.
Thank you and happy Youth Day for the 16th of June.
