Lourens Family Wines "Lua Ilsa" Grenache Noir, 2024

In 2019, Franco was notified that this small, bushvine vineyard had some fruit available from a friend, Xander Grier.  This block, located at 1950 ft. above sea level, is on the drive back down to the valley from the site where Franco gets a bit of Chenin for his single-vineyard bottling. This fourth release, named after his daughter Lua Ilse, continues to be a showstopper. It is one of the most distinguished and singular Grenaches produced in South Africa and in many ways becomes a beacon for others to seek out in terms of its elegance and moreish qualities.

The grapes were hand-harvested and lugged back to the cellar in small picking bins. About 75% of the fruit was destemmed but not crushed with the remaining portion left fully intact. Fermentation occurred without any additions in open top one-ton fermenters with the whole clusters placed atop the destemmed fruit. Franco hang plunged the wine a few times daily for the first four days to get the ferment active. After nearly two weeks on skins the wine was gently pressed to two old 500L French tonneau for aging. After ten months the wine was racked to tank to settle overnight and bottled without fining and just a coarse filtration and small sulfur addition.