Now in Stock: Testalonga!
Craig and Carla Hawkins have two ranges under the Testalonga label - the approachable Baby Bandito wines, and the more serious, structured El Bandito wines which are made from bought-in fruit. No yeast, enzymes or acid is added during the winemaking process, and here are David Clarke’s Tasting Notes for their just-released wines which we now have in stock:
MIELIE GREEN 2023 Chenin Blanc: This range is named after Camilla, Craig and Carla's daughter, who call her "Mielie". These are the only blended wines in the TESTALONGA range - all other wines are single variety-single vineyard.
The Mielie range is an expression of the Swartland as a region made with the same philosophy and attention to detail as all the TESTALONGA wines.
The wine is a blend of three vineyards from the the Swartland. The koffieklip/granite soils near Malmesbury giving bush vines planted in 1981. Bush vines on the foothills of the Piketberg mountains in Moutons Hoek planted in 1961 on deep sandstone soils. The second vineyard planted in 1998 is close to Redelinghuys and 18km from the cold Atlantic ocean on the West Coast. The vineyard is also dry land farmed and gives a specific saltiness to the grapes. All organically and dry land farmed.
Hand harvested and whole bunch pressed. The wine is a blend of three vineyards which were co fermented in a 5000L concrete tank for 6 months then racked off its gross lees and placed back into the concrete tank. No yeast (or other) inoculation or additives apart from a small amount of SO2 shortly before bottling were added. The purity of fruit this year and the very soft edges makes this wine delicious in our opinion.
MIELIE MAGENTA 2023 Grenache Noir: 0.75 ha of bush vine trained Grenache noir, organically farmed. Planted in 2018, this is a block with quite a high soil water table as it is situated on a mountain in a “kloof” next to where the winter streams run. Hand harvested and sorted in the vineyard for any undesirable bunches.
Hand harvested and 80% Destemmed into open 2000L fermenters. 20 % whole bunches. Fermented on the skins for 14 days before being pressed off into 500L wooden barrels, and Stainless-steel tank. No yeast (or other) inoculation or additives apart from a small amount of SO2 shortly before bottling.
BABY BANDITO KEEP ON PUNCHING 2023 Chenin Blanc: Note from Craig on the label: "There was a heavy influence from street artists. The names of the wines come from expressions that we use as if giving encouragement to a child. “Keep on Punching” is an expression my good friend and hockey mate, Prof Lyal White, used to always say when the going got tough"
Planted in 1961, dry land bush vines, farmed organically. It is a 4-ha block of Chenin planted on the sandstone soils of the Piketberg foothills on the way to Redelinghuys. It’s our oldest block of Chenin vines on soils that lie adjacent to a river, this provides enough water throughout the growing season.
BABY BANDITO STAY BRAVE 2023 Skin Macerated Chenin Blanc: Planted in 1981, bush vine, farmed organically. This is a 1.5ha block we “discovered” which was abandoned in 2014, we approached the farmer Rick McGrindle and asked if we could try and revive it. The vineyard gives a very specific salty character to the wines, maybe not as intense as those from the heart of the Paardeberg but there is a definite salinity which we love. This may be because it is only 30km from the ocean or just the character that chenin gets on these soils.
Hand harvested and 100% Destemmed into open 1500L fermenters. Fermented on the skins for 14 days before being pressed off into a 3300L old oak Foudre and 1 x 1500L barrels. After 4 months the wine was blended and aged in one 10 000L fibreglass tank.
BABY BANDITO CHIN UP 2023 Cinsaut: Planted in 1981, bush vine, dryland, farmed organically. This is a 3ha block on the farm of Rick McGrindle. It yields very large delicate grapes with thin skins of a pale complexion. Although 2023 vintage with the good rains preceding harvest added a bit more depth to the wine. 2023 had decent yields that gave good balance in the wine.
Hand harvested and 100% destemmed into open 2000L fermenters. Fermented on the skins for 12 days before being pressed off into a 5000L cement tank and stainless-steel tank. Fermented slightly warmer for a bit more extraction.
BABY BANDITO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS 2023 Carignan: Planted in 2001, bush vine,, farmed organically. This is a block that is fairly vigorous for the dry soils of the Swartland and produces a good number of high-quality grapes with very juicy large berries. We try keep as many leaves as possible to shade the block as it can suffer from sunburn.
Hand harvested and 100% whole bunch fermented. The wine does not do carbonic maceration but rather is crushed before going into tank for 12 days of fermentation and then pressed off into two old 3500L Foudre and 500L barrels. The grapes were harvest slightly later compared to previous vintages.
EL BANDITO I AM THE NINJA 2023 Methode Ancestral Chenin Blanc: The same vineyard used for Keep On Punching.
Hand-harvested then pressed and held in Stainless steel tank for about 25-30days at 4 degrees Celsius. After racking to remove the sediment and get the juice as clear as possible the tank is slowly warmed up to start ferment.. At a sugar of 35g/l it was bottled under crown cap where it was left to finish fermentation and build up a natural pressure of carbon dioxide. After 10 months the bottles were riddled and disgorged and topped with the same wine (from other decanted bottles) and crown capped again. No SO2 was ever added to the wine and neither was any settling or fining agent. RS: 14g/l | TA: 6g/l
EL BANDITO I WISH I WAS A NINJA 2023 Methode Ancestral Colombard: Dry land trellised vines planted in 1998. The block is in Wellington and is on decomposed granite soils. It has been farmed organically since it was planted and belongs to Dr Edmund Oettlé who is a wonderful man to get to know. He has a great deal of knowledge with regards to organic farming and makes wonderful brandys. The block of Colombard has massive acidity’s due to the river that flows right next to the block which allows it to never stress.
Hand-harvested then fermented in stainless steel tanks at a temperature of 4 degrees. It was racked 7 times during fermentation to remove the sediment. At a sugar of 60g/l it was bottled under crown cap where it was left to finish fermentation and build up a natural pressure of carbon dioxide. After 10 months the bottles were riddled and disgorged and topped with the same wine (from other decanted bottles) and crown capped again. No SO2 was ever added to the wine and neither was any settling or fining agent. RS: 35g/l | TA :11g/l
EL BANDITO CORTEZ 2023 Chenin Blanc: The label for Cortez changes every year. In 2023 it features Bruce, the Hawkins' Boerboel, who unfortunately passed away of a heart problem at the age of 6. RIP Bruce.
Planted in 1972, dry land, bush vine, farmed organically. The vineyard is a special one as it has been farmed organically since 2001 and every year, good or bad, gives a tension we sometimes don’t find in our other wines (as much). This I think is due to the high percentage of quartz/silica in the soil.
Hand harvested and whole bunch pressed. Fermented/Aged in 4 x 500L old French Foudre and a single 1500L stainless steel tank for 6 months then blended together and placed back into wood and stainless steel.
EL BANDITO LORDS OF DOGTOWN 2023 Chenin Blanc: Bush Vines planted in 1981 and organically farmed.
Hand-harvested then fermented after being 100% whole bunch pressed. Pressed into one 500L and 400L old barrel. No added yeast or acid. Full Malolactic fermentation takes place. Un-fined and not filtered. SO2 was not added at any stage. The richest, most open of the El Bandito Chenins.
EL BANDITO MANGALIZA 2023 Harslevelu: Bush vines planted in the 1971 and organically farmed, they are situated in a very wet part of the Paardeberg, at the bottom of the slope, adjacent to the Cortez and Sweet Cheeks vineyard. The vineyards grow very upright and have very loose open berries which help with good airflow to reduce disease pressure.
Hand-harvested then fermented after being 100% whole bunch pressed. Pressed into 1x500L and 1 x 225L French oak casks. No added yeast or acid. Full Malolactic fermentation takes place. SO2 added a month before bottling, un-fined.
EL BANDITO SKIN 2023 Skin Macerated Chenin Blanc: The original TESTALONGA wine.
Organically farmed dryland bushvines, planted in 1972. Picked on a balance between taste/feeling and experience we find this helps to maintain the pH/acid/alcohol balance that we love. This vineyard is in a wet area on the Paardeberg.
Hand harvested. Destemmed 100% into 1500L open fermenters. Fermented for 14 days on the skins before being pressed into one 3000L Foudre. No yeast inoculation and fermented at ambient room temperature of 16 degrees. Full malolactic fermentation takes place. Bottled after 11 months in Foudre.
EL BANDITO SWEET CHEEKS 2023 Skin Macerated Muscat d'Alexandrie: Organically farmed bush vines planted in the 1952, they are situated in a very wet part of the Paardeberg, at the bottom of the slope, and this helps with ripening the large berries fully.
Hand-harvested then fermented after being 100% Destemmed. Pressed after 10 days and matured in 500L old oak casks. No added yeast or acid. Full malolactic fermentation takes place. SO2 added a month before bottling, a light clarifying filtration, not fined.
EL BANDITO MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN 2023 Mourvedre: Bush vines planted in the 2001 and organically farmed, they are situated on slightly more clay rich “Koffie Klipp” soils of the Abbotsdale region on the foot slopes of the Paardeberg, this is a 1ha block we share with good friend and winemaker Jurgen Gouws who farms the block. 2023 vintage we achieved good yields on this block and the grapes were perfect in health and quality and a pleasure to work with.
Hand-harvested, 100% whole bunch fermented for 12 days in open tanks, where it is then pressed and aged in three 500L French barrel. No yeast added, ambient fermentation. The purity of fruit this year and very fine tannins are exactly what we are looking for in this wine.
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About Us
Have you ever heard about a great wine but could never find a bottle for yourself (to share with friends, of course)? Well, the team at Wine & Company do all the hard work for you! We visit wine farms and attend tastings to find, taste, and then stock wine from the smaller Estates and independent winemakers who buy grapes and produce outstanding wine under their own labels – much the same as the French negociants have been doing for centuries. Given that these winemakers make wine in such small quantities, sometimes just a single barrel, their wine will never be found on the shelves of the major retailers, but only in specialist shops like Wine & Company on High Street, Hermanus.
In addition to the great selection of well-known local wines and MCC's, we also stock craft gin and beer, imported wines, French Champagne, Belgian Ales as well as whisky and other spirits. Wine & Company (established in 1998 by Bartho Eksteen) has a well-earned reputation for stocking hard-to-find small-batch wines and we strive to continue this great tradition. If you purchase a bottle of wine from us and it is faulty we will gladly replace the bottle and return the faulty wine to the winemaker.
Feel free to contact Wine & Company if you need a particular wine and we will do our best to source it for you. We are also able to ship wine locally and to most countries so do ask about international shipping.
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