Sic Transit Gloria Mundi is selected for intensity, clarity of expression, and potential to reflect the estate’s underlying viticultural principles. The blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre is an time-honoured combination in which each component balances, softens, and compliments its partners. Our goblet-pruned (“bush vine”) Grenache and Mourvèdre grow in deep, clay-rich soil on the foothills of the majestic Simonsberg mountain. We select Syrah from one of the estate’s three vineyards, depending on the vintage, to give the wine aromatic intensity and complex, multi-layered flavour.

Working with these grapes for the last decade, I have come to love goblet pruning. These vines yield little. Yet, with careful pruning and canopy management, their symmetry, balance, and deep root systems buffer against seasonal stresses and ensure consistency and quality of each harvest.

The grapes were harvested by hand into 18kg lug boxes and sorted manually for consistency, ripeness, and the removal of leaves from the bunches. The destemmed bunches were fermented in a stainless steel tank with daily pigeage. The wine is composed almost entirely of free run juice, hand pressing being used to gently obtain a small press fraction of less than 5% of the total volume. Following racking, the wine was matured for 24 months in neutral 225 liter oak barrels. The wine was bottled without fining or filtration. Some natural sedimentation will occur in bottle.

This vintage is delicate, with a mineral structure. It showcases a slightly oxidative, old-world winemaking style. The objective of the Sic Transit Gloria Mundi is to distill and preserve the timeless natural beauty of our estate vineyards into the bottle.