Yo El Rey Wines What Could Go Wrong? Muscat 2022

ABOUT THE WINE:

Muscat is often referred to as 'Hanepoot' in the Cape, is also simply known as the humble table grape. The Muscat family is big, with many different clones of it, and it's an ancient grape variety. Known for its aromatics and floral, lifted tones, a little bit of skin-contact during fermentation goes a long way. This was destemmed, and fermented on the skins for about a week before being pressed to old oak barrels for about 9 months of ageing before bottling. Filtered before bottling.

'This wine is a nod to my time spent in California in 2016. I worked a harvest with Pax Mahle in Sonoma, and 'what could go wrong?' became the go-to ironic response to several questions asked over the course of each day.

'Should we leave this on the skins for an extra week?'

'Probably can't fit this all in the press, but should we try squeeze it in?'

'Should we stack another cradle of barrels on that pile over there?'

'Reckon we should do another Mezcal?'

We'd all look at one another and the standard response was always 'what could go wrong?’, as we shrugged our shoulders and cracked on doing that thing we probably shouldn’t. The reality was that everything could have gone wrong, but it always worked out in the end.

It seemed an appropriate name to use for something experimental. Each vintage there will always be a wine where I try something new. There is the brightness and aromatics of the Muscat on the nose, but the palate feels really fancy and round. This is definitely more of a white wine than an orange wine.'

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.