Yo El Rey Wines One Bad Man Grenache Noir 2022

ABOUT THE WINE:

Bot River is a lesser known grape growing region of the Cape, but here you'll find a handful of amazing producers making sensational wines. Nabot is a farm growing organic Grenache Noir, and this was harvested, destemmed and fermented on the skins in big plastic bins until dry. The wine was then pressed to old oak barrels for about 9 months of ageing before being filtered before bottling. It's medium bodied, with a beautiful red candied fruit and spice profile.

'I have a brilliant than a gentleman by the name of Tommaso Paoli. He's Florentine (not Italian, as he'll quickly correct you), plays the Blues like BB King, and mixes the best Martini you’ll ever taste (Vodka with a twist, no gin, no olives, don't be mad). He's a romantic, a Renaissance man, and a lover of life. He's one bad man, in the best sense of the idea (we’re talking a James Bond kind of bad). You can't help but be slightly enamoured by him and his charm when you meet him.

The first time I ever visited this vineyard was with Tommaso. It was 2018, and it was my first solo foray into this winemaking journey. We travelled to Bot River, a sleepy little town in the Overberg, to collect a ton of Grenache Noir from an organic farm called Nabot. It was a beautiful morning that day, and I remember watching the sunrise over the valley and thinking how magical that farm was.

Fast forward a few years, and this same fruit is now making a single variety Grenache Noir, a bright, medium-bodied wine with boat loads of freshness and red fruit. And now, every time I taste it, I can't help but think of my old friend Tommaso. One bad man.'

ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:

Angelo’s journey into wine is an unlikely one. He enrolled at Stellenbosch University to study oenology, and subsequently failed his first year. That failure forced him to change his degree, but even in that moment, he felt a deep desire to pursue a career in wine. It was at Waterford Estate in Stellenbosch where he cut his teeth, and after moving to London to immerse himself in the wine industry in the city as a sommelier, he travelled to California to work a harvest with Pax Mahle in Sonoma, which was the catalyst for him starting Yo El Rey Wines in 2018.

Angelo works in a low-intervention style in the cellar, and as of 2023, is now working exclusively with négoce fruit farmed without any chemicals. He is extremely passionate about the South African wine scene, particularly the exciting new generation of winemakers coming into the fold. When he isn’t in the Cape producing his wines over harvest, he is in London, importing and distributing a handful of these growers to the U.K. trade.