Scions of Sinai is the project of Bernhard Bredell, a seventh-generation wine farmer whose family has worked the land around Sinai Hill in the Helderberg, on the southeastern edge of Stellenbosch, for more than 160 years. The Bredells were once major suppliers of Port wine to KWV Cellars, and when that negociant relationship collapsed after his grandfather's passing, most of the family's vineyards were sold off. Bernhard now farms what remains, a scattering of old bush vines certified as Heritage Vines by the Old Vine Project, using regenerative, dry-farmed methods with no pesticides or herbicides. After honing his craft with stints at estates in Priorat, Fleurie, and Crozes-Hermitage, he returned home and was named South Africa's Young Winemaker of the Year by Tim Atkin MW after only his second vintage.

Gramadoelas is the outlier in the Scions of Sinai range: the only bottling sourced from outside Stellenbosch. The fruit comes from a single, remote vineyard of Grenache Blanc planted in 2009 on decomposed schist and shale in the Klein Karoo, at roughly 1,500 feet of elevation. It's such an isolated site that its name translates loosely to "the boondocks." Bernhard hand-harvests the fruit, gives it a brief skin-contact soak for texture, and lets it ferment spontaneously with native yeasts. The wine then spends nine months on fine lees in a mix of older 228-liter and 400-liter barrels and concrete, going through natural malolactic conversion along the way, before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Why You'll Love It

• A bright, finely etched white built on purity and tension rather than weight
• Lifted aromas of jasmine, citrus blossom, white peach, and lemon peel, threaded with wild herbs and fresh ginger
• A precise, energetic palate with zesty acidity and a subtle pithy grip
• A long, saline finish that speaks clearly of its rugged, high-elevation origin
• A rare single-vineyard expression of Grenache Blanc from a corner of South Africa almost no one else is bottling from
• Versatile enough for a weeknight dinner or a special-occasion seafood spread

How To Serve It

• Serve well chilled, around 48-52°F, to keep the acidity bright and the aromatics lifted
• No decanting is required, though 15 minutes of air time can help open up the ginger and floral notes
• Pour into an all-purpose white wine stem to let the citrus and herb aromas show
• Pair with pan-seared scallops in brown butter with toasted almonds and a scatter of fresh ginger, a dish that mirrors the wine's saline finish and spice-tinged fruit