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Chenin Blanc
Pinotage
Cinsault
Semillon
Bottle of Eight Gates Chenin Blanc

Vintage 2023

Chenin Blanc

Origin
This wine comes from a small 2 hectare South-East facing vineyard planted in the early 1980s onvery stony ground at the foot of the Saronsberg outside Tulbagh.

The minute crop (8HL/hectare) was hand-harvested over two days at the end of January and the first week of February. Gently whole-bunch pressed, the juice settled overnight before being transferred to Mittelberger cooperage barrels for primary fermentation by indigenous yeast. The wine underwent natural malolactic conversion during 10 months of maturation in new 300L and 500L barrels, with no batonnage. It was racked off its lees, returned to barrel, and bottled on January 4, 2024. 1,000 bottles produced.

Alcohol: 12.82%
Residual Sugar: 2.8g/L
Total Acid: 5.4g/L
pH: 3.47

Vintage 2019

Pinotage

Origin
This wine comes from a small single vineyard in the Breedekloof region, planted in 1998.

Picking
The grapes were hand-harvested in the first half of February and immediately crushed into open-top fermenters, with approximately 10% added as whole bunches.

Vinification
Fermentation with indigenous yeast began gradually, and over two weeks, gentle extraction was achieved through two to three gentle punch-downs daily. The fresh wine was then drained and pressed directly into the barrel. The wine matured in one 500L barrel and one 225L barrel for 24 months. Only 1,100 bottles were produced.

Alcohol: 13.9%
Residual Sugar: 1.0g/L
Total Acid: 5.7g/L
pH: 3.9

Bottle of Eight Gates Pinotage
Bottle of Eight Gates Cinsault

Vintage 2018

Cinsault

Origin
This wine comes from a small bushvine vineyard in the Breedekloof region, planted in 1997.

Picking
The grapes were hand-harvested into 16kg boxes in mid-February.

Vinification
The grapes underwent whole-bunch fermentation in one open-top tank for two weeks before being drained and pressed. The wine completed malolactic conversion and matured for 18 months in one new 500L barrel (from the Mittelberger cooperage) and a third-fill neutral barrel. 1,066 bottles produced.

Alcohol: 14%
Residual Sugar: 1.1g/L
Total Acid: 5.2g/L
pH: 3.89

Vintage 2023

Semillon

Origin
The grapes for this wine come from the Elgin Valley, one of the coolest wine regions in the country, known for exceptional fruit quality. Slow ripening permits complex flavor development while maintaining inherent freshness.

Picking
The grapes were hand-harvested early in the morning in mid-March.

Vinification
Grapes were crushed and immediately pressed to tank for overnight settling to gently clarify the harvested juice. Fermentation took place in a stainless steel tank, followed by maturation on fine lees for 11 months. Malolactic conversion was inhibited to preserve freshness and highlight the Semillon varietal character. 1,370 bottles produced.

Alcohol: 13.5%
Residual Sugar: 2.0g/L
Total Acid: 6.4g/L
pH: 3.16

Bottle of Eight Gates Semillon

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Carlo Suter

Carlo’s childhood spanned family farms across the Lowveld, Waterberg, and Western Cape, grounding him in nature’s beauty and the value of physical labor. After school, he trained in cabinetmaking in Basel, Switzerland, where a four-year apprenticeship revealed the magic in meticulous craftsmanship, fostering his respect for artisanship. Returning to South Africa, Carlo earned a degree in Oenology and Viticulture from Stellenbosch University. A harvest at De Trafford deepened his belief in how attention to detail shapes quality, which he applied on the family farm in Breedekloof, where he grew grapes and made wine for four seasons.

His passion for learning took him to wine harvests in France, where he connected with vignerons in Bordeaux and the Loire, then back to Switzerland to work in a Zurich fine wine store and gain experience with European harvests in the Douro and Mosel regions. A friendship with the Mittelberger brothers at their Bolzano cooperage led Carlo to assemble two 500L barrels for Eight Gates Wine, still in use today.

Kolja Stürmer

Kolja, born in Cape Town, attended German Schools in Johannesburg and Cape Town before completing a Garden Landscaping Apprenticeship in Berlin. His love for nature led him to Sendai, Japan, where he cared for plant displays in offices and stores, took Bonsai classes, and explored Japan’s famous gardens. Inspired by Japanese culture’s respect for nature, he later studied Business & Accounting in London with dreams of starting a landscaping business.

This path, however, led him to fund management, taking him to cities like Melbourne, Vancouver, and Singapore. Throughout his 8-year finance career, his entrepreneurial side emerged, trading items from African leather goods to netsuke. After meeting his wife from Adelaide, the couple returned to the Southern Hemisphere, where Kolja launched an import and distribution business in South Africa. Now happily married with two children, he has created a home full of small creatures and reflects his landscaping passion in his own garden.