Luddite 'The Saboteur' Red Blend

The Verburg and Meyer families set up Luddite Wines in 2000 on a slope of the Houw Hoek mountain outside the village of Bot River. The farm is 17 hectares of which 7 are under vine and 1 hectare is planted with olives. We farm as naturally as possible and the vines are not irrigated, good wine is made in the vineyard.

With the Saboteur Red, the style is unashamedly new world where we are going for crunchy, juicy fruit balanced by vibrant tannins. This contrasts nicely with the Luddite Shiraz which is more classic in style. The red blend will always be Shiraz driven with a Rhone slant. What makes it different is that our Cabernet Sauvignon is too damn good to leave out! It only spends one year in barrel with sexy wooding and is released soon after bottling.

The buzz word for us is balance and therefore the blend percentages will change depending on the vintage. It will always contain Shiraz, Mourvedre and, hopefully in the future, some Grenache Noir. The fruit is sourced from Bot River and neighbouring wine regions making a wine of origin Cape South Coast.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Mourvedre

Saboteur 2020 Red Blend

2020 vintage saw more rainfall and a cooler lead up to harvest, giving more natural acidity and elegant fruit flavours. The percentage of Grenache Noir has increased from the 2019 vintage, giving the wine a fresher, fruitier style. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache Noir were all fermented in small batches in open bins with quite a lot of whole bunch and stalks in the Grenache Noir. The larger batches of Mourvédre and Shiraz were fermented in stainless steel tanks with regular pump overs. All the components were pressed directly into barrel and aged separately. Some of the batches did malolactic fermentation in barrel which gives a fuller mouth feel and structure. This vintage was in barrel for 12 months with 18% new French Oak.

During the blending process, great care was taken to follow the house style of Saboteur, which is increasingly building up a huge following, ie. bold fruit, good spice and soft tannins. The blend this year is 61% Shiraz, 15% Grenache Noir, 13% Mourvédre and 11% Cabernet Sauvignon. A small portion of the Grenache Noir is from the 2021 vintage which lifts the freshness and red fruit spectrum of this wine.

Grapes were sourced from nine vineyard sites:

Bot River, Gabriëlskloof Shiraz harvested on 17th February 2020

Bot River, Stuart Vineyards Shiraz harvested on 20th February 2020

Bot River, Luddite young block Cabernet Sauvignon harvested on 25th February 2020

Walker Bay, Ou Meul Shiraz harvested on 26th February 2020

Walker Bay, Ou Meul Cabernet Sauvignon harvested on 27th February 2020

Bot River, Gabriëlskloof Cabernet Sauvignon harvested on 3rd March 2020

Bot River, Luddite young block Mourvédre harvested on 25th March 2020

Bot River, Gabriëlskloof Mourvédre harvested on 25th March 2020

Bot River, Anysbos Grenache Noir harvested on 19th March 2021

Average analysis of fruit at harvest

23.5° Balling, TA – 5.8 g/l, pH – 3.55

Appearance: Rubi red & purple.

Nose: Spice, cinnamon, tobacco, bright red fruits and hints of floral.

Palate: Juicy red fruits on entry. Dark fruit and spice on mid-palate. Long and dry finish leaving palate refreshed.