Momento Botrivier Grenache Noir 2023

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Momento Botrivier Grenache Noir

Region: Western Cape, South Africa

Vintage: 2023

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: Grenache Noir

ABV: 13%

The nose opens with cranberries and roses, complemented by a balancing savoury spice. On the palate, bright red-fruited flavours of cherry and confected raspberry create a sumptuous, generous core, lifted by a pleasantly savoury, cardamom-like astringency. Supple tannins carry through to a languid, soft finish.

The Botrivier Grenache is sourced from the oldest dryland bush vines in Botrivier, planted on Bokkeveld shale soils, contributing depth, structure, and a strong sense of site to the wine.

Marelise follows a ‘hands-off’ approach in the cellar to produce the purest site expression. After early-morning hand harvesting, the grapes were destemmed into small fermenters with 30% whole clusters and underwent four days of cold soaking on skins before spontaneous fermentation commenced. Hand punch-downs twice daily ensured gentle extraction, followed by an additional 10 days of post-fermentation maceration to refine tannin texture. After a total of four weeks on skins, the wine was basket-pressed into older 225-litre French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and maturation, spending 16 months in barrel

Born from a passion for Mediterranean varieties and old-vine fruit, Momento is the solo project from dynamic winemaker Marelise Niemann. Marelise honed her craft at Beaumont Family Wines from 2007 to 2014, sharing cellar space with Crystallum’s Peter-Allan Finlayson and Thorne & Daughters’ John Thorne-Seccombe. She also worked extensively in California, the Rhône, Burgundy, and Portugal. Her fascination with Grenache was sparked in 2010 while in Priorat, where, together with winemaker Eben Sadie, she was impressed by the vibrant fruit produced by old vines. Returning to South Africa, she sought out parcels of old vine Grenache to make her own elegant and soulful wines. In 2023, she was named Tim Atkin’s ‘Young Winemaker of the Year’ in recognition of her work.