Lubanzi "Rainboat" Pét-Nat, Swartland, South Africa 2023

FROM LUBANZI WINES:

THE WINE: 100% Cinsault. This lively Pét-Nat comes from 12 tons of Cinsault hand harvested from a block on a tiny organic farm in the heart of the Swartland. Lined by Conifers for wind protection and bursting with life from its rocky soil, it’s a vibrant place.

Vintage tasting notes: Strawberry, pink apple, cider, candy floss & dry grain on the nose. Summer strawberry, cranberry, lemon drop, buchu leaf & pomegranate notes on the palate alongside a sweet & sour experience.

THE PRODUCER: In 2014, while living in South Africa as exchange students, we set off on a 20 hour bus ride along South Africa's southern coast en route to the wild coast, a remote part of the country - famously the birthplace of nelson mandela - for a week long backpacking expedition. On our second day, a wandering dog the locals called ‘LUBANZI' began following us on our adventure. He stuck with us throughout our journey - for 6 days & 100 miles - until he disappeared in the middle of the night before our final morning. There's some poetic justice in that.

In the spirit of this adventure, we moved to South Africa in 2016 endeavoring to launch a business that could help share the magnetism of a country and a people that had planted such deep roots in us, and deliver some seriously top notch wines in the process. Together, we spent months in South Africa sourcing and developing our wines; We ran the gamut looking for friends and partners who believed in the vision and wanted to be part of what we were trying to build : a young, innovative, forward-thinking and socially responsible wine company built on the concepts of collaboration & exploration, with a ‘locally run, globally minded' mantra. We found those partners in our winemakers, Trizanne Barnard & Bruce Jack, & our designers, Fanakalo, who became friends and collaborators, and who, throughout these years, have helped bring LUBANZI to life.