Catherine Marshall Riesling '23

Catherine Marshall is well recognized as one of South Africa’s top winemakers. She was way ahead of her time, starting to produce wine in 1997, with one of the first “garage” wineries in a wine scene that was dominated mainly by the national cooperative and the established Stellenbosch estates. She began her career as a solo winemaker in 2007, after apprenticing at cellars locally as well as internationally, in France, the US, and Australia, and she refocused her production and purchased land in the Elgin region of South Africa. Her detailed, hands-on, respectful approach in the vineyards and in the wine production process are evident in the unique character of all her wines.

An area that was previously more noted for its apple and pear trees, Elgin is now the pre-eminent cool climate wine producing region in the Western Cape, and Riesling is an excellent fit for the terroir, producing intense, bright, pure wines of character. The Riesling grapes are from two sites in the Elgin Valley. The first is grown on southeast-facing slopes in the Kogelberg Biosphere, which is rich in plant diversity besides vineyards. The second site is on higher, western slopes close to the Groenlandberg spur section of the Hottentots Holland range that encircle the whole Elgin Valley. The wine was fermented cold for 58 days until it reached the residual sugar required for sweetness to balance the acidity. The final wine was fined and lightly filtered to bottle. Residual sugar is 10.3g/l.

On the nose, this Riesling shows aromas of fresh citrus and lime zest, along with notes of honey, elderflower, petrol, and flint. On the palate, it is light bodied and vibrant, with a mineral-driven finish. Fresh and lithe, this is a wine you can drink as an aperitif, with soft, fresh cheeses, or dishes ranging from roasted pork to quiches and curries.