Duncan Savage, Thief in the Night, 2024

Brambly Cherry, Floral, Stony

Western Cape / Red / Grenache 

The fruit is picked by hand from high-altitude, dryland bush-vine sites in Piekenierskloof. Fermentation is spontaneous on indigenous yeasts in open-top fermenters and conical foudres with roughly 20% whole-bunches retained; after around two weeks on skins the grapes are basket-pressed. Maturation is carried out in concrete eggs and older 500-litre barrels (and some foudre) for close to a year with minimal SO₂ additions and usually no fining or filtration at bottling the autumn following the vintage — a light-touch, terroir-driven approach that leaves the wine brambly, floral and intensely stony. 

Notes on the producer

Duncan Savage began making wines under his own Savage Wines label in the 2010s and turned it into his full-time project after building a strong reputation for mineral-led, site expressive wines. He works with old, dryland vineyards and leases plots across interesting, exposed sites in the Western Cape (notably Piekenierskloof), buying fruit from growers with low-intervention practices. Savage now operates from an urban winery in Salt River, Cape Town, and his wines — prized for purity, wild ferments and gentle handling (basket press, concrete eggs, older barrels) — have won wide critical acclaim and are often in short supply.