Description
A pure expression of Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Lokaia is crafted from hand-harvested grapes grown on the rocky, east-facing slopes of Franschhoek’s Dutoitskop Peak. Fermented with wild yeasts in a small amphora and without oak influence, this natural, unfined, and unfiltered wine offers a vibrant ruby red colour and an explosion of vivid red fruit on the nose. Notes of red pepper and cola tonic add complexity, while the bright acidity and crunchy tannins lead to a long, textured finish. A refreshing, fruit-driven wine best enjoyed slightly chilled.
Producer Profile
Lokaia was born from the overwhelming sense that there was
more to explore in the Franschhoek Valley. While it’s no secret that Semillon,
Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc are at the forefront of the region’s wine
identity, their bottled form still has room for growth and refinement. The
ultimate goal is to extract as much personality and definition from the grapes
as possible, while still maintaining each variety’s purity, brightness and
focus.
Lokaia’s intrepid founders, Clayton Reabow and Craig
McNaught, are also the winemakers behind this visionary Franschhoek-based
label. These guys have decades of wine experience between them and collaborated
on a plethora of other projects before diving in to their own brand in 2020. It
was just one of those things that was always going to happen.
Clayton has been behind the wheel of Franschhoek’s
Chardonnay Mecca – Moreson, for fourteen years and counting. Currently at the
peak of his powers, he is still the only individual to have won both the
Diner’s Club Young Winemaker of the Year and Winemaker
of the Year awards. While simultaneously running a bourgeoning wine
consultancy, Clayton continues to bottle some of South Africa’s most
critically-acclaimed wines.
Craig, is the second-generation winemaker and co-owner of
Stony Brook Vineyards in Franschhoek’s Bo-Hoek region. His focus for many years
has been on producing traditional, old-world influenced wines and Lokaia
affords him the opportunity to delve in to the postmodern.
So what happens when you merge these two
personas together and let their imaginations run wild? The answer: a winemaking
philosophy that captures their common passion in sublime liquid form.
Tasting Notes
Greg Sherwood 94
This may be an unorthodox wine, but that smell is undeniably Cab Franc. Take an uneven gleaming blade, preferably old pewter, seen many whetstones; slice a pile of fresh green bell peppers until the knife bleeds capsicum; throw in the stink-bug aromatics of fresh coriander, roughly chopped; add the rough of tree bark, the pock marks of acid, the ancient sous of field mushrooms, the new-cut of topiary and the gossip-sharp red of cranberries. An urgent, fragile-strong wine that is the embodiment of Andrea Gibson’s raw, haunting My body is electric, especially when my power’s out. (TC) 17 out of 20 – JancisRobinson.com [Greg Sherwood, 01/01/2023]
