Trizanne Signature Wines: a single-vineyard approach focusing on the Cape South Coast
Website: https://www.trizanne.co.za/
Trizanne Barnard is the winegrower behind Trizanne Signature Wines, which she began in 2008, after working for four years with Anwilka. A keen surfer, she lives close to the beach in Kommetjie. Her focus is mainly on vineyards in the Cape South Coast region, which includes Elim, although she also makes wines from Hemel-en-Aarde and a little further up the same valley in a small region near Stanford. Trizanne rents cellar space at Black Oystercatcher in Elim to make here wines.
Trizanne is a believer in the qualities of the Cape South Coast. ‘Everything appeals to me,’ she says. ‘When I drive into Elim there’s a specific light intensity, higher than other areas. There’s an energy here that is so different from anywhere.’
There are two ocean masses that meet here, and she says the wid ins relentless. ‘It’s not easy farming out here,’ she says, ‘but if it works it works really well.’ There is a long ripening period without any heatwaves.
THE WINES
Trizanne Signature Wines Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Cape South Coast
Tank fermented with some lees work. Vibrant, fresh and juicy with lovely focus to the grapefruit and pear fruit, as well as some elderflower. Nice presence. 91/100
Trizanne Signature Wines Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2020 Elim
12.5% alcohol. Barrel fermented with 20% new oak (the barrels are ceramic toasted, not fire toasted). Lively, mineral and complex with powerful citrus fruit and some appealing pear notes. There are some fine spices here, as well as great acidity. Pure and linear. 94/100
Trizanne Signature Wines Cinsault 2021 Swartland
12.5% alcohol. Different pickings and 50% stems. Matured in foudre. Supple, silky fruit here with freshness and a liqueur-like richness, with hints of olive. Tasty and sweetly fruited. 93/100
Trizanne Signature Wines Syrah 2021 Swartland
Destemmed and fermented in open top fermenters. Ripe, supple and silky with nice peppery hints and lovely freshness. Massive drinkability with lovely pure fruit. 93/100
Trizanne Signature Wines Reserve Syrah 2019 Elim
13.5% alcohol. Textured with a smooth mid-palate and some fine spicy framing to the sweet strawberry and cherry fruit. There’s a hint of pepper here too. Fine and expressive with lovely opulence. Smooth and luxurious, with depth. 94/100
Trizanne Songadskloof White 2021 Songadskloof
This is just out of Stanford and is Sauvignon Blanc, farmed biodynamically. 50% is skin fermented at 27 C with daily punchdowns, and is then basket pressed to new oak. The other 50% is whole bunch pressed to barrel. The idea is that the new oak would bind the phenolics from the skin ferment. Powerful and intense with grapefruit and lemon, showing good acidity. No oak obvious. Notes of pear and grapefruit with lovely brightness and a hint of chalkiness. So lively and multidimensional with massive ageing potential. 95/100
Trizanne Chardonnay 2021 Benede-Duiwenhoksrivier
12.5% alcohol. This is from a DO that’s 4.5 h drive up the N2 from Cape Town, 12 km from the ocean, with limestone soils and a cool climate. Fermented in 500 litre barrels with malolactic blocked. Lively and precise with pure fruit at its core: citrus and pear. Lovely acid line and a slight salty edge. So pure and well integrated. 95/100
