The Vineyard Party Here Be Dragons 2018 Bottle size: 750ml

'Northeast-facing semillon vines on decomposed granite, as sibling. Eye-catching yellow gold introduces 2018. Sense of ripeness rather than fruit, with texture the main focus. Richness & weight balanced, freshened by judicious yet effective tannins from 60% wholebunch ferment on skins & stems. Older oak. Sophisticated food partner. Lovely potential.' – Platter's Guide, 5* (95/100)

'Some crushed destemmed and fermented on skins (40%) and a 60% whole bunch fermented (60%). No additions apart from SO2. Yellow/gold colour. Lovely aromatics with some lime, a bit of green, and rich honey and apricot notes adding an extra dimension. The palate is fresh but rich at the same time, with lovely green, chalky Semillon characters meshing well with nuts, toast and spice, and also some exotic apricot characters as well as some orange peel and well integrated tannic structure. A really lovely wine of real depth, showing off Semillon in a beautiful way.' – Jamie Goode, Wineanorak.com, 94/100

'60% whole-bunch fermented and 40% skin contact. Grapefruit, orange, potpourri, a touch of honey and spice on the nose. The palate is slightly lighter and leaner than its counterpart above with good fruit purity and nice freshness before a salty finish. Somewhat contrary to expectations, the more energetic of the two.' – Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za, 93/100

'Golden in colour and incredibly spicy on the nose. Golden currants, camphor, pine resin, gorse brush, Lily of the Valley, linalool, white pepper. Pretty extraordinary – and that's just the nose. The texture on this wine is so pronounced that the moment it was on my tongue, I felt a long line of goosebumps down my spine, almost like an electric shock. It's like sea glass. And it's as briny as a rockpool. Barnacle rugged, limpid purity, samphire-ribboned, the edges and ribs of the finish festooned with a delicate green-cobnut foam. Bee pollen, tarragon, dried Persian lime. The flavours crash in like waves, glisten, momentarily, on the rocks of the bones of the wine, hiss as they draw back through the mouth, and then they're gone leaving the tang of salt and the memory of power and bare cliffs and a sense of waiting. For the next wave.' – Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com, 17.5/20

'Here be Dragons 2018 is a blend of the whole bunch fermented and crushed-destemmed grapes, thus making for a single-origin skin and stem contact Sémillon. Lightly amber in colour, this wine is earthy and perfumed with a stone-like minerality, orange blossom and orange rind spiced with curry leaf and lime. The palate is rich with nicely weighted tannic grip, concentrated naartjie and peach. The freshness from the stems and skins nicely lifts the fruit, gently creamy on entry it finishes with a lingering salty note.' – Jolette Steyn, Winemaker

Winemaker's notes:
'Portion crushed destemmed and fermented on skins and a portion whole bunch fermented, so skin and stem contact. Spontaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentation.

During ancient times, cartographers drew dragons or seamonsters or wrote HIC SUNT DRACONES (Here be Dragons) on dangerous or unexplored territories on a map. This is the more experimental wine of the two. As this is my maiden vintage and I’ve haven’t done skin and stem contact on Sémillon before, this is our challenge, our unexplored territories.' – Jolette Steyn