A hidden gem on a road less travelled!
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Black Pearl on the slopes of Paarl Mountain is one of those madcap outfits where brilliant wine is made for the love of it. Their philosophy is that fine winemaking and conservation should co-exist.
Again we have only found this very special winery by chance - one of our British customers who had been staying in SA during January and he happened to come across this artisan winery. He bought a couple of bottles and then because the wine was so great contacted us to go and research the wines with a view to Carte du Vin importing them to the UK.
What a bit of luck that was!
Mary-Lou Nash is a Cape Wine Master. She was born in the UK, raised in Maine, went to University and then decided to travel the world.
With only a backpack, she arrived in South Africa in 1995. Here
she was thrown in at the deep end of a first harvest of Chenin Blanc at the farm Rhenosterkop which her Dad had bought from a friend. Following that year she announced to her father that if he paid for her food and drink, she would stay for one year and manage the place for him.
That was 3 decades ago and the beginning of her passion for wine and her career as a self-taught grape grower and winemaker. She received a Cape Wine Masters degree in 2011, along with the award for Excellence in Brandy. She has a judging certificate from The University of Stellenbosch, which enables her to judge various wine competitions.
This lady knows what she is doing!
Nothing happens here that Mary-Lou doesn't know about as the staff consist of her and one helper Kenny! Between the 2 of them, they make the wine from start to finish. There are some vines on the farm but not enough to make the whole range available here. Therefore other grapes are sourced locally from other farmers in the area.
Some days you will find Mary-Lou seated on the forklift moving grapes from one storeroom to another where they will be destemmed and then crushed by hand in a small basket press.
You can buy Black Pearl wine here from the farm and tastings can be arranged by appointment. Up until recently, Mary-Lou's father would give the tastings in the kitchen of his beautiful farmhouse at the back of the property, but unfortunately he sadly passed away at the beginning of this year.,
Approximately they make 10,000 bottles a year and their largest outlet is America where you can find the wines in Disneyland!
Carte-du-Vin will be the sole supplier of these boutique wines in the UK and we can't wait to have them on our shelves.
