NITIDA winemaker Daniel Keulder tells of how in 2012 the Wild Child “started off as a bit of an experiment with a wild ferment in a couple of barrels”. Hence the name of a Sauvignon Blanc still made largely using a method involving natural or indigenous rather than inoculated or cultured yeast, one of several wines produced from this variety at the Durbanville cellar of Bernhard and Peta Veller.

Dressed with a botanical artwork, the Wild Child is growing into one of South Africa’s beauties. There were good reviews for the 2015 vintage, followed by an ‘excellent’ rating of the 2016 in the local Winemag.co.za before the 2017 triumphed with a gold medal at the international Concours Mondial du Sauvignon. And apart from Nitida’s good track record with single-varietal Sauvignon Blanc, their success extends to blends, too – the Sauvignon Semillon combo of Coronata Integration ranking among the SA Top 10.

Nitida Wild Child 2017
Grapes from four vineyards on the farm, with 50 to 75% of the wine a wild ferment, 65% fermented in 225-litre barrels (tight grain, medium toast, 19% new). Four months on the lees. Alc 14.15, R/S 2.3, TA 6.5, pH 3.44.
Winemaker’s tasting notes include “white peach and litchi flavours”, subtle oaking.
R150 a bottle from the cellar door.