About
Johan was the first South African producer to receive the invite to the exclusive ‘Brutal!’
club of winemakers. Brutal! started from a conversation three winemakers had a few years
back (two are Catalan and one is French). The two Catalans, Laureano Serras and Joan
Ramon Escoda exclaimed when tasting one of Anthony Tortul’s wines that it was ‘Brutal!’ or
as Americans would say ‘dope/kick ass.’ Anthony didn’t get the reference and thought they
were saying the wine was garbage. So he made a quick makeshift label with ‘Brutal!’
handwritten and the rest is history. Today ‘Brutal!’ is very much part of the ‘natural’ or ‘raw’
wine movement. The only requirements are that it’s ‘zero/zero’, meaning nothing added and
nothing taken out. It also signifies the wine that is an experiment. Johan Meyer a.k.a.
Stompie has two Brutal! wines, this one and a Chenin Blanc. This Cinsault is comes from the
Paardeberg Mountain in Swartland and joins the vault of ‘Brutal!’ wines made by naturalwine pundits such as Christian Tschida, Valentina Passelacqua, Matassa, and Do.t.e.
The grapes were harvested manually by taste and not Balling reading to insure good
mouthfeel of pH and acidity, structure, and aromas. The Cinsault grapes were pressed
directly onto dry Carignan skins for better acid and color concentration. The wine fermented
at about 85 degrees F for 10 days and then spent another 22 days post-ferment on the skins
for tannin integration. Aging was done for 11 months on the gross lees in old French oak,
after which the wine was blended and bottled. No fining, no filtering, and no SO2.
Tasting Notes
This is a bright, juicy wine with red currant, cranberry, and herbal notes. A total of 32 days
on the skins brings a crunchy, tannic edge and the wine finishes with a powdery dusting.
Best enjoyed slightly chilled.
Vegan.