Source: Tormentoso
TORMENTOSO
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Tormentoso is a range of premium, vineyard-focused wines produced by the team at MAN Family Wines.
“Cabo Tormentoso” (translated as “Cape of Storms”) is the original European name for the Cape of Good Hope, given to it by the Portuguese explorer Bartholomieu Dias, who first rounded the Cape in 1488. The story goes that upon his return home, the Queen of Portugal took an immediate dislike to the name and changed it to “Cabo da Boa Esperança”; the “Cape of Good Hope” as we know it today.
Here be dragons. Medieval mapmakers used images of sea monsters and dragons to indicate unexplored, uncharted territories on their maps. Tormentoso’s image was inspired by the sea monster depicted on the mosaic map that forms part of the Monument for the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descombrimentos), in Lisbon, Portugal. The map and large compass rose tiles form the core of a large outdoor square that was gifted to Portugal by South Africa in the 1960’s as part of the 500-year anniversary celebrations of the age of discoveries.
There are multiple readings of the word Tormentoso: drama, torment, struggle. All of these seem apt when you consider where our grapes are grown.
The vines grow in a dry area with little or no irrigation, but the rocky shale soils of the Agter Paarl region allow the roots to penetrate deeply, to get to the moisture reserves. The vines have to endure a certain amount of struggle to ripen their grapes, and it’s this torment that produces our distinctive wines with concentrated flavours and aromas.
We have sought out pockets of excellence from among our growers’ finest vineyards and have chosen to highlight them in the Tormentoso range. Such as the old vine Chenin Blanc, where the grapes come from a 38-year-old vineyard, or the excellent bush vine Pinotage vineyard that always produces a bright, clean modern expression of this grape.
Tormentoso wines are crafted by the team at MAN Family Wines under the special care of winemaker Riaan Möller. In collaboration with Cellar Master Tyrrel Myburgh, Riaan Möller uses traditional winemaking techniques with minimal intervention to allow the wines to reflect their distinctive origins, pure fruit flavours and varietal characteristics. Meticulous berry sorting, careful cellaring and maturation in 225L oak barrels combine to create our showcase vineyard selection range.