The project went full steam ahead with #harvest2022 – with Chris helping to make six wines in four countries in one vintage. There is an amber blend made in Austria using amphorae and two new-age disease-resistant grapes that only required one spray in what winemakers in Central Europe are generally calling “a challenging vintage”.

There is an experimental white and a red from Slovenia. The white is a co-fermentation featuring Laški rizling from a vineyard so steep it is worked by goats in winter, and Traminec berries. There is also a Blaufränkisch from a highly underrated region in northeast Slovenia. In Hungary, Chris helped to make a totally unique sparkling wine featuring the unknown grape variety Pearl of Victoria, plus Grüner Veltliner.

Another project in Hungary involves producing an unusual Kadarka (a light and spicy red wine) with producers in two very different regions who favour two very different technologies (one likes to put their Kadarka in oak and one likes to use stainless-steel tanks). The forthcoming offer from ywine.club will be a blend of the two wines.

The 2022 project finished in a region where winemaking has continued for 8,000 vintages – in Georgia. There, Chris is producing a modern amber wine in a qvevri…

Journalist and winemaker Chris Boiling is the editor of Canopy.

How to clean a qvevri

We're not taking any chances when it comes to the cleanliness and hygiene of the two qvevris I'm using for my amber wine in Georgia. I was thinking I'd go in and scrub with some cherry bark, but the pros at Kindzmarauli Marani showed me how they do it...

#winemaker #amberwine #orangewine #qvevriwine #winesofgeorgia #georgianwine #flyingwinemaker #winemaking #cleanwines #Khikhvi #kisi #georgiangrapes #KindzmarauliMarani #telianivalley #harvest2022

Did you know South Africa has been making wine for 364 years?

Here is a tremendous offer on wines from this ‘New World’ country…

There is a great deal of talk in wine circles about Old World and New World wines. Some supermarkets divide their aisles this way. South Africa is often lumped in with the New World, yet it has been producing wines since the 17th century.

It is now one of the top 10 wine-producing countries in the world. What it offers is good value and a wide variety of wines.

It’s probably best-known for its white wine made from Chenin Blanc and its red wine made from its national grape, Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault. I’m also a fan of its Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc white wines, its red blends (which usually feature Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) and its Shiraz (which I often prefer to Australian Shiraz wines).

The Chardonnay that’s on offer to ywine.club members here was recently named the best Chardonnay in The Independent newspaper. But all six wines in the mixed case “punch above their weight”, according to Dan Farrell-Wright of Wickhams, which handles the FREE delivery for us.

For this month’s offer we’ve rounded up a selection of lovely wines to introduce you to the country and what it has to offer in terms of wine. As well as saving £11, you will also be helping the country – whose wine industry suffered severely during the pandemic – to celebrate 364 years since the first wine was made from Cape grapes. This occasion was noted by Jan van Riebeeck in his diary in 1659: “Today, praise be to God, wine was made for the first time from Cape grapes.” Praise be, indeed!

ywine.club’s Wine Club’s superb value collection of South African wines

•  Aquiline Sauvignon Blanc, Western Cape 2021

• PF Ruby 2017, Stellenbosch

• False Bay ‘Slow’ Chenin Blanc 2022

• Wild House Shiraz 2020, Western Cape

• De Wetshof Estate Bon Vallon ‘Sur Lie’ Chardonnay 2022

• The Earth Beneath Our Feet Pinotage 2015, Franschhoek

If you bought the wines separately, it would cost you £81 but the ywine.club price is £70. This includes delivery.

 To purchase the case of six bottles, please click here.

EVENTS

We are planning some exciting events in 2023 and 2024 to mark the launches of the Crazy Experimental Wines.

Find Out More →