Winemaker
Notes
Duncan Savage was the winemaker at Cape
Point Vineyards' for 14 vintages. In 2011, he started his own label on the side. Through his time at Cape
Point, Duncan grew to understand maritime vineyards and crafted a reputation for profound and saline whites
with great aging potential; this led him to source grapes for his own project, Savage Wines, from similar
maritime and high altitude sites. His wines were met with great acclaim and in 2016 he quit his job to turn
his attention to his namesake project. At first he created wine by borrowing other people's wineries but
today he uses his own winery in Salt River, Cape Town. Duncan is no doubt one of the best winemakers in
South Africa. In fact, Tim Atkin (MW) has proclaimed, "Duncan Savage thinks he hasn't hit his full potential
yet. Heaven help his rivals when he does.
94+ Points, Greg Sherwood
MW
Only three years into this grandiose “Grenache project” and the quantity of the old, dry
land Grenache in this blend has already grown to 61%, supported by 26% Cinsault and 13% Syrah. The wine
spent 2 weeks on its skins employing only 20% of whole bunches this year to maximise the fruit’s true
terroir expression. All components were picked on the same day and co-fermented from the same property in
Piekenierskloof before spending 11 months in 3,400 litre conical foudre. Every vintage I have tasted of this
wine has been a step up on the previous year’s effort and of course I wondered whether this would be
possible again in 2019. Having a fabulously crystalline, translucent ruby red colour, this wine is sassy and
confident from the get go, showing a rich, deep, savoury spicy aromatic depth of autumnal leaves, freshly
cut hedge row, sappy earthy black cherry fruits and a subtle peppery broody depth. Yet again, the compact,
signature 2019 palate texture density and harmony is unambiguous, with a seamless fruit – acid balance and a
savoury earthy red currant and bramble berry spice complexity asserting itself on the long, plush, polished
finish. I don’t know if Duncan is just simply mastering his Grenache fine tuning evermore or if 2019 was
just an incredible vintage for this style of blend? But needless to say, this is his most confident and
accomplished expression of the Thief in the Night cuvee produced to date. Drink from release and over 8 to
10+ years. (4,400 bottles produced.)