Craven "Pinot Gris" Stellenbosch, South Africa 2022

FROM VINE STREET IMPORTS:

THE WINE: Pinot Gris isn’t exactly an abundant grape planted in Stellenbosch, but it is something Mick and Jeanine have a lot of fun working with. While Pinot Gris is often made in a white style, it is in fact a lovely coppery/dark rose skinned grape. Mick and Jeanine were able to find Pinot Gris from the incredible Newlands Vineyard, farmed by Deon Joubert, on an easterly slope of the Polkadraai Hills facing back toward Stellenbosch. Though the block was only planted in 2007, the wine shows tremendous balance and intensity. Mick calls this skinsy style “the way Pinot Gris should be!” Every vintage gives Mick & Jeanine a run for their money, as this notorious wine is always rejected by the South African Wine & Spirit Board for not complying with the typicity of Stellenbosch. After lots of tedious back-and-forth, the appeals committee always comes around. At this point, it’s a dance the Cravens know by heart.

The grapes were hand harvested and brought back to the Stellenbosch winery. The 2024 marks the third vintage using concrete ‘squares’ for fermentation and aging. The grapes were destemmed, and the juice was left to soak on the skins for seven days. It was then racked and the skins were pressed back to concrete where it aged for six months. The wine received a light sheet filtration, but no fining, and it was bottled with just 45 ppm sulfur.

THE PRODUCER: Craven Wines is a winemaking collaboration between husband-and-wife team Mick and Jeanine Craven. Mick is an Aussie and Jeanine is South African; they met in California dragging hoses in Sonoma for harvest in 2007. After both having taken to the textbooks at their respective universities, they decided to hit the road, see lots of things, work in lots of places and try and learn as much as possible from this massive wine world. After traveling across the world together for four years and learning about wines in Australia, Europe, the States and South America, the couple returned to South Africa in late 2011. They feel Stellenbosch has such an amazing array of sites and terroir, and that it is perfect for what they want to do, which is making site-specific, honest, single vineyard, varietal wines.