Flagstone wines ‘a marriage of nature and human imagination’

Flagstone Wines celebrates creativity and innovation with a winemaking methodology of “vines need to be pruned, but ideas must be left to grow wild”.

Flagstone was one of South Africa’s first to be a “winery without its own vineyards”, drawing on vineyards across the Cape managed in long-term partnerships with farmers and setting up a winery operation in Somerset West’s old dynamite factory in 2002.

Ever-innovative winemaker and savvy marketer Bruce Jack started Flagstone in 1998, and later sold it to giant global wine merchant Accolade Wines, with his protégé Gerhard Swart still in place today as head winemaker.

The creativity behind Flagstone is visible in each wine having a distinctive name and the story behind it captured in a striking pen-and-ink label illustration.

Behind that lies an encouragement for the winemaking team to be creative and innovative, but always underpinned by a focus on getting it right in the vineyards first, and then in the cellar — a “marriage of nature and human imagination”.

The names of the wines, and the stories behind them, stretch from Cape landmarks like the noonday gun fired daily from Signal Hill and the lesser-known like the “Treaty Tree”, an ancient milkwood still standing in Woodstock, Cape Town.

It is said to have witnessed a 1509 battle between the Khoi San and Portuguese mariners, and was the site of the signing of a peace treaty between the British and Dutch in 1806.

All the way to the Eastern Cape and our indigenous Erythrina/Coral Tree, also known as the Truth Tree when translated from its common isiXhosa name.

The story goes that important village meetings were held under the Truth Tree because woe betide anyone who told a lie under its boughs.

Truth Tree is the name given to one of Flagstone’s several versions of pinotage, so best keep it honest while sipping on this one!

Beyond creative flair in both winemaking and marketing, it’s what is in the bottle that really counts and here Flagstone definitely delivers on both quality and value.

A selection of Flagstone’s wide range was on offer last weekend at The Tank Room, the neat new tasting venue at Preston’s in Main Rd, Walmer, where a different winery showcases its wines each week on Friday and Saturday afternoons.

A payment of R50 gets you a tasting ticket and a sociable tasting with good discounts and entry to a lucky draw to win a bottle of wine. (Disclosure: I was last weekend’s lucky winner!)

To the wines — Free Run Sauvignon Blanc (R149) is a good example of a quality cool climate sauvignon, this one from Elim and Elgin, crisp and lively with some minerality and lots of “green” — figs, peppers, limes.

My preference in the whites would be the Noon Gun (R99), a dry white blend of chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc and Viognier, melding subtle tropical fruit sweetness with zippy citrus, a hint of spice, a textured mouthfeel (which makes it great with food) balanced with crispy zestiness. A hot summer’s day crowd pleaser.

Fiona Pinot Noir 2022 (R189) is a super cool climate pinot noir — bright garnet in colour with depth of flavour in fresh red berries, herby and floral notes and distinctive earthy mushroom umami. Serve lightly chilled for a delicious easy-drinking, but not frivolous, pinot noir.

In that Eastern Cape connection, Truth Tree Pinotage 2021 is dark and juicy, rich fruit intensity with swirls of dark chocolate and spice, a great buy on special at Preston’s for R119.99 until month-end.

Don’t miss out another Flagstone tree-themed wine — the Dragon Tree 2020 Cape blend of pinotage, cabernet sauvignon, Shiraz and a few other interesting grapes (R159) that is the winery’s “cult wine” and the one the winemaking team buys to take home more than any other. A regular in the Absa Perold Cape Blend winning line-up, it’s rich with intense dark fruit, sour cherries, roasted plums, a lush full-bodied stunner.