Luddite Saluez Le Saboteur 2015

I discovered this wine on a trip to South Africa in 2016 while visiting the cool growing regions of Elgin and Bot River. As a guest of the South Africa Wines trade organization they arranged meetings with all of the producers of each region. When we arrived in Elgin it was an intimate tasting with a handful of winemakers while having lunch on the terrace at Paul Cluver winery. All of the wines tasted that day were very good but the winemaker who stood out was Niels Verburg, who slipped in during harvest to show us his four stunning Luddite wines.

 

The Luddite winery is a small, almost garage-like venture owned by the Verburg and Meyer families. Niels named the winery for a movement of workers in France at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Workers displaced due to machines took to burning down the factories. The term Luddite refers to someone who resists modernization which is Niels approach to winemaking. His second label red wine is named in honor of the resistance, “salute to the saboteurs.”

 

In crafting this wine Niels used 77% Syrah, blended with 11% Mourvédre, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc. Just because this is a second label does not mean corners are cut, with this wine spending 12 months in 50% new French barriques.

 

Longtime club members may remember we featured this very vintage in 2020. At the time I described the nose of this wine which “creeps out like a fog rolling into a tree covered valley.” With time in the bottle this wine has evolved gorgeously with deep notes of blackberry and blueberry jam, charred rosemary stems, graphite, freshly ground white and black peppercorns, dried sage and thyme. The oak that was a bit obvious then is now a subtle tone to a very complex and multifaceted palate, with fruit and oak intermingling as only great wines with time in the bottle achieve. Drink 2025-2027 with steaks, a rack of lamb or oxtails.