Strange Bru
Bright, tangy, textural, gently fleshy thing. Fernao Pires was planted in South Africa decades ago for production as brandy. Strange Bru (the odd brother in Afrikaans) celebrates the charms of a Portuguese cultivar finding it's feet in a foreign field.
South Africa
Food Match
Coconut infused curry, fish with a mango salad or pan roasted chicken.
Tasting Notes
A mineral nose of crushed granite, peach kernel and petrichor. On the palate the sandy seam underpins stone fruit skins. The wine finishes tight and bright.
Production
Of the last blocks of Fernao left in the Cape, this is the oldest at thirty-something years old. Originally grown for yield and brandy, this Portuguese immigrant certainly found it's feet but fell out of favor. Which is where we all come in… Before we "lose em let's use em". Naturally abundant and gently aromatic, the 2018 vintage in particular focused on the fruit in this Breede River Valley vineyard. All the rock-stars are sniffing around this block now, which is good for it's future but here it is an accessibly-priced expression of the loveliness of the Found before it gets Lost. In Portugal the variety is also known as Maria Gomes, which is strangely sexy in itself. Best drunk in it's youth, this wine is not for later, it's definitely Fernao.