STELLENBOSCH Hills has made this season’s big reveal! Available now is the latest vintage of the well-known winery’s rare Muscat de Hambourg, a collector’s item as the only fortified wine of its kind in South Africa. Released exclusively in truly exceptional vintages, the wine was last available in 2020.
Stellenbosch Hills is just one of two commercial South African producers of the Muscat de Hambourg variety, but the only winery to bottle it as a single cultivar wine. The vineyard that produced it was originally planted in 1987 but had to be replaced in 2001. Today, the trellised vines cover less than one hectare.
This Stellenbosch Hills Muscat de Hambourg hails from the 2022 vintage that stood out for its cooler night temperatures, which enhanced flavour and colour in the resulting wine. In the glass, it is intensely fragrant with aromas of candy floss, boiled sweets, rose petals and violets. These tumble onto the palate in delicious balance and through to a long, satisfying and velvet finish. The wine is perfect as an aperitif or after-dinner drink, served at room temperature in winter. It is equally tasty when presented over crushed ice, or vanilla ice cream and strawberries.
Originally developed in Germany, Muscat de Hambourg is a cultivar derived from a cross of Muscat d’Alexandrie and Frankenthal. Stellenbosch Hills makes the wine in a Jerepigo style, which means fortifying the unfermented grape juice to create a memorable experience-in-a-glass.
The Stellenbosch Hills winery and tasting room is at the intersection of the R310 and Vlottenburg Road, just outside Stellenbosch.