Ex Animo Wine Co.

I first met David Clarke a few years ago when I traded him lessons on wine (he is a sommelier, after all) for Afrikaans lessons. He’d just moved to SA – married to an Afrikaans-speaking local and he wanted to improve his local lingo. Packed schedules eventually got the better of us both and we only really had a few lessons, but his incredibly knowledge and honest, down-to-earth love for wine stayed with me. Back to present day, David and his wife Jeannette have started Ex Animo Wine Co. and they’ve been bloody busy since. They had their first trade show in early March and it was packed to the rafters with some of the most exciting and enjoyable wines I’ve encountered in ages.

First, a bit of an intro for Ex Animo. I think of them as “not just another wine company”. In their own words: “…work with and represent a select group of producers who are passionate about vineyards and aspire to reflect them in the cellar.” and “Our aim is to get South Africans to drink better wine, thus quality ‘in the glass’ is paramount.”. 

This vision translates into Ex Animo sourcing some of the most exciting, talked about and paradigm-shifting wines, wineries and wine-makers to be involved with. Each partner reflects the core idea that David and Jeannette have in mind: getting SA to drink better wine through service, knowledge and education. It’s impossible to miss the love these two have for the wine industry and it’s hard to not get excited when chatting to either of them about wine. Their trade show was a collection of the new, the unexpected and in some cases (I’m looking at you, Testalonga El Bandito), the downright incomparable. The complete list of producers featured at the trade tasting is at the end of the post. Choosing out special mentions is tricky (the merits of the likes of Julien Schaal, Testalonga El Bandito and Thorne&Daughters is no surprise to anyone), so I’ll just go for the ones I enjoyed the most – which is also tricky because the wines were all exceptional in their own way.

Craven Wines – I fell in love with their Pinot Noir last year, while continuing a stormy and tumultuous relationship with the heart-break grape. I still love it as much as the first time I tasted it. I also had the chance to taste their Clairette Blanche, which I found fresh and fascinating.

Lammershoek – They brought the longest wine list to the show and I worked diligently through all of them. They make a Hárslevelü (the only other winery I’m aware of that makes one is Lemberg in Tulbagh), the unusual nature of the wine is quite noticeable though it’s probably not to everyone’s taste. As recent self-appointed champion for rosé and Blanc de Noir wines, the LAM Rosé 2013 was a great find, good strong acidity and just the faintest hint of spice from the Syrah with a great finish. The Bush Vines Chenin Blanc was by far my favourite though, good body and a complexity that makes it moreish and engaging.

Spioenkop – Elgin based producer, crazy Belgian Koen Roose makes wines in more a French style (though I wouldn’t presume to try and box their wines in too tightly). The vibrant, cool climate Pinotage 2013 stuck with me, an elegant wine made more like a Pinot Noir than it’s progeny normally is.

I adore what Ex Animo are doing, I think it’s exciting to see people with the knowledge and the (ugh…I hate this next word, but in this case it is authentically appropriate) passion of the Clarke’s doing their bit to breathe new life into industry, adding to the mix in ways that ultimately means that we – the wine consumers – are in for a treat.

The Ex Animo Trade Tasting was held on the 9th of March, 2015 and feature the following producers: Craven, Intellego, JH Meyer Signature Wines, Julien Schaal, Lammershoek, Restless River, Skinny Legs, Spioenkop, Testalonga El Bandito, Thorne & Daughters, Trizanne Signature Wines. The Ex Animo website will be launched soon. For more information, contact David or Jeannette.

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Wine Concepts

As someone who attempts to blog about their full-time hobby while holding down a full-time (unrelated) job, I’m the first to admit writing when you’re working 10-12 hour days is pretty tough at times. As a wine lover with the occasional opportunity to attend really exceptional events, I’m stubborn about putting content I care about out there, even if it is a couple of weeks after the fact. The Wine Concepts Burgundy Lover’s Festival is one of those events. I was aiming for a more constructive, informative and generally well composed piece, but in truth I adore Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir stole my heart years ago, so my analytical mind shut down shortly after the first drop of heavenly liquid hit my glass. For this round, I’ll leave the proper wine reviewing aside for a bit and just run through some of the more interesting and downright divine finds of the evening.

Knowing where my favourite wines were to be found and also which new ones wanted to try, I plunged into the fray randomly, approaching the first stand with a gap for me to fill my glass. This led me to Lothian Vineyards. I found their Chardonnay to be perfectly pleasant, hints of melon and lime and the most delicate touch of oak. Their Pinot Noir is well balanced, a mouthful of strawberry with a hint of tobacco on the other end of the spectrum.

The next new find was Winters Drift. Also from the Elgin Valley, I’ve seen the label around but had never tried their wines. The Chardonnay is very nice, smooth and lightly wooded with a honeydew fresh taste and good, soft acidity. The Pinot Noir is quite fruity, light and drinkable.

With great anticipation, I made my way to the Springfield stand to indulge in my longstanding love affair with their Wild Yeast and Methode Ancienne Chardonnay. Upon arrival, I was surprised to see they had a Pinot Noir on offer. I’m a great proponent of out-of-character wines in terms of styles, cultivars and where they are grown and made, but even so I wasn’t expecting a Pinot Noir (typically better suited to cooler areas) from Robertson, where summers can be merciless. I was delighted to find a sexy Pinot Noir in that bottle, slightly more muted and less fresh and fruity than others but with lots going on and lots to appreciate.

It was shortly after my stop at the Springfield station that I stopped taking pictures, finding conversing with my companions while discussing the exquisite wines far too consuming to keep snapping away with my phone. Other more than notable mentions include Vriesenhof, Creation (both their Pinot Noir and Reserve Pinot Noir are excellent) and Ataraxia (they had a sort of micro-flighted tasting, with their 2010 and 2013 Chardonnay available for tasting, a solid indication of what the younger wine could potentially grow into).

My absolute top finds of the evening were without question the Richard Kershaw Wines Chardonnay and both the Crystallum and Craven Wines Pinot Noirs. The Kershaw Chardonnay stops you dead in your tracks. A more composed, elegant and truly beautiful Chardonnay I have never encountered. Exquisitely wooded, complex fruit and a grounded character that invites you to just finish the bottle and make sure you pack a case in the car to take hom.

The Crystallum Pinot Noir is the stuff of dreams. If you love Pinot Noir, this is the one to seek out. And the Craven Wines Pinot Noir is magnificently exciting, a breath of fresh air from the seemingly new trend of “Young Guns” winemakers on the SA wine scene. Incredibly wine makers doing fantastically exciting things, shaking up the wine scene and producing tastebud-blowing stuff.

I’ll say it again. I love Chardonnay and I adore Pinot Noir. The Burgundy Lover’s festival was a treat, well organised and presented by the team from Wine Concepts. And if Sauvignon is more your thing, then you should keep an eye on their website for the Seductive Sauvignon festival coming up in September. It promises to be a spectacular collection of the best Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon around. I’m saving the date.

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