Ataraxia Wines and News from the Cape

For around six weeks, all Ataraxia wines were out of stock, leading many to assume we had discontinued Ataraxia. This couldn't be further from the truth.

The flagship wines of Kevin Grant from the Hemel en Aarde Valley are a staple in our core selection. Due to well-documented logistics issues and high demand, they were completely sold out before Christmas. We are thrilled to announce that fresh stock has finally arrived and all wines are now available again.

To celebrate this, all Ataraxia wines are discounted by 20% this week in our shop.

Additionally, the package for the Ataraxia live online tasting on 11.03.2022 is now available. Sommelier Stefan Metzner will meet wine-making legend Kevin Grant. Together, they will taste four current wines and certainly chat about the “Black Method” for making Chardonnay. This long-almost-forgotten method of making Chardonnay originally comes from Burgundy and is something Kevin discovered for the 2020 vintage. This method has nothing to do with distilling. Ataraxia fans should definitely mark this date on their calendars.

We expect the next shipment, God willing, at the beginning of March, which will include two new wines that we have received a tiny allocation of in Germany. Two special Chardonnays that Kevin Grant produced in 2020 are allocated to us. One is from an organically farmed vineyard, the other fermented on the skins. We received allocations of 60 and 30 bottles, respectively. You can place pre-orders via email (maximum 6 bottles) while stocks last. Subscription price for both is €50 each.

For those wondering who this Kevin Grant is and whether he deserves all the hype, it's worth mentioning that a barrel of Chardonnay from the aforementioned organically farmed vineyard fetched the highest price at the 2021 "Cape Winemakers Guild Auction". This annual auction of hand-crafted wines from the best winemakers is a highlight in the Cape's wine calendar, and the prices achieved there are certainly a measure of respect that a winemaker enjoys among professionals.

Lastly, a few words about the current situation in the Cape. Honestly, if we and others weren’t still wearing masks everywhere, we would forget that we are in a pandemic. For that, we need to watch German news in the evening or actively search for current case numbers online, as we just did.

We can see that the number of infections has drastically fallen in recent weeks, with 3,657 cases registered nationwide yesterday. There is certainly a significant underreporting, but that is also the case elsewhere.

We recommend everyone who has the opportunity to take full advantage of this situation and enjoy a bit of summer feeling in the Cape. It has probably never made more sense.

In this spirit, with great ease in our hearts, we wish you a wonderful rest of the week and always have the right glass of wine at hand.