The Story of Blankbottle:
Blankbottle offers something for those with an open mind and an adventurous spirit. Winemaker Pieter Walser is passionate about telling stories through his wines—both what’s in the bottle and what’s on the label. His goal is to provide an authentic, personal taste, free from the expectations often associated with specific vintages or styles. Pieter collaborates with skilled farmers and experienced viticulturists across the Western Cape and designs his own labels, ensuring a unique and creative expression in every bottle.
“In 2004, a lady came to my house (then also my office) to buy wine. She asked for anything but Shiraz. “I don’t drink Shiraz”, were her exact words. I poured her a glass of wine. She loved it and bought 3 cases. It was a straight Shiraz.” -Pieter Walser
The Story behind the Label:
Seelug 2022 – the first vintage of something special. First things first though – some relevant terminologies: Off-shore wind – air movement off-the-shore, into-the-ocean. On-shore wind – air movement from-the-ocean, onto-the-shore. Chop/wit pertjies/white horses – Little waves produced by long distance air movement over large expanses of open ocean surfaces. Sampling – The picking of random grape berries from a vineyard in order to get a representable sample to determine ripeness. Seelug – Sea Air.
One hot day, during the harvest of ’22, I was sampling a little (as yet) un-named Chardonnay vineyard which a good friend had told me about. Situated on the lower slopes of the Helderberg, it overlooks False Bay. Glancing over towards the ocean that day, I could clearly see that the off-shore wind was blowing. This was good news to the Strand local I am, as the elusive off-shore wind grooms the waves, making them perfect for my local surf spot. I made a mental note to get a move-on with my sampling, no time to lose. But 20 minutes later, as I once again raised my head from my berry-picking, grape-squashing exercise, I glanced over the bay. D’oh! (as Homer Simpson would say) – the wind had turned onshore. I could clearly see the tell-tale “wit perdjies” on the horizon heading towards shore. In a few minutes the perfectly groomed waves would be destroyed. Deflated, I carried on with the task at hand. Then, another 20 minutes later it hit me – SEELUG! It suddenly felt like someone was spraying my sun-baked face with a cool, misty oyster extract – a fragrance of fresh, salty, damp bamboo… So whilst the onshore might be wrecking waves, it simultaneously pushes the hot air inland and hugs every Chardonnay plant in that vineyard with a fragranced coolness which not many vines ever experience. Seelug 2022 – A fresh, elegantly oaked, limey and delicious Chardonnay – more to the serious side of things.
