Ghost In The Machine
Glencairn
Secret Safari
Off The Charts
The Drift Estate
What happens when you take an almost forgotten white grape variety, two carefully selected vineyards and let the grapes guide you down a less traditional path? You get one of the most intriguing wines in the Ghost in the Machine collection. With long summer days and the festive season approaching, it is exactly the sort of bottle we love to put on the table – something a little unusual to spark conversation.
The heart of this wine comes from an old vine vineyard in Elskloof, which contributes around 80% of the blend. The remaining 20% comes from a slightly younger Clairette Blanche vineyard at Tweefontein, at the entrance to the Hex River Valley, planted in the early 1990s.
Clairette Blanche naturally tends towards lower acidity, but what makes the Ghost in the Machine expression particularly interesting is how we work with that characteristic rather than trying to change it.
Unlike most white wines, where the juice is quickly separated from the skins, our Clairette Blanche is fermented on its skins. Why, you might ask? The natural tannin in the skins bring a gentle structure to the wine. That helps retain the crisp, almost crunchy sensation that sits alongside Clairette’s mouth-filling creamy texture.
The result is a lovely contradiction: creamy yet crunchy, textured yet fresh.
Once skin fermentation is complete, the wine is pressed using an old Champagne basket press before going into older, neutral French oak barrels. So there are no real flavours from the barrel, instead, they provide a quiet place for the wine to develop.
It then spends 12–14 months on its lees, the spent yeast cells that naturally settle after fermentation. Time on the lees builds further creaminess and texture, adding another layer to the wine without masking the character of the grapes.
The approach throughout our winemaking is deliberately hands-off. Fermentation takes place with wild yeast, very little sulphur is used, and the wine is given plenty of time to settle naturally so that only minimal filtration is required before bottling.
It is slow winemaking, crafted with care and intention.
A little Rhône connection
If you’re a fan of Rhône whites, you may find something familiar in this bottle. Clairette Blanche shares some of the textural qualities we love in varieties such as Grenache Blanc, particularly the generous, mouth-filling quality associated with the white wines of the Southern Rhône.
There is also another important characteristic: longevity.
Like Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche has an ability to produce wines with texture and structure that can develop beautifully with time. This is not simply a light white wine made for immediate drinking. There is substance behind its freshness.
A wine for long summer tables
Ghost in the Machine Clairette Blanche feels particularly at home as the days get warmer. Its combination of texture and freshness makes it far more versatile than a simple crisp white. We recommend a long, lazy summer lunch where one course quietly becomes three.
For the festive season, it is also a brilliant bottle to put on the table when everyone is eating something slightly different. There is enough freshness for lighter dishes, but enough body and texture to stand alongside richer food.
Try is with grilled fish or prawns over the braai, roast chicken with lemon and herbs and grilled vegetables, Mediterranean-style sharing plates or creamy cheese.
Something a little different
Perhaps that is the best way to think about Ghost in the Machine Clairette Blanche.
Two special vineyards. An old grape variety. Skin fermentation. Wild yeast. An old basket press. Neutral barrels. More than a year resting on the lees.
None of these decisions is about making more wine, more quickly. They are about allowing an unusual variety and two distinctive vineyard sites to express themselves.
The result is a handcrafted white with a personality all its own.
Creamy. Crunchy. Textured. Fresh. And just a little unexpected.
A rather good bottle, we think, for wherever the summer takes you.