An elegant, bright and beautifully intense white.
“I can trace my Italian roots all the way back to the 1800s in South Africa,” says Clarise Sciocatti-Langeveldt over a plate of oysters at SeaBreeze Fish & Shell, paired with her beautifully dry, mineral cap classique, which spent six years on the lees. “It’s important to me that wines stand the test of time, they need to be elegant and restrained.”
Clarise goes on to describe how her ancestors were part of a contingent of Italian silk worm farmers, who came over to start the ill-fated silk industry in the Cape. Though that never quite got going… the spin-off was that out of necessity they had to learn how to live off the land in the forests of Knysna.
This attunement with the natural world has travelled along their lines of DNA and ended up in this bright, talented winemaker. Clarise admits she could never have an office job; the ‘geco’ (aka gecko) in her branding being both a tribute to this inherent love of nature, as well as to her Italian heritage.
After achieving a degree in Cellar Technology from Elsenberg, she set about gaining experience at top local cellars, Vilafonté and Avondale, as well as abroad at the legendary Château Montelena in Napa. Her most recent salaried job was at the helm of Hazendal in the Bottelary, which she left in 2022 to go on her own.
It was a considered leap, her own brand had been quietly ticking over in the background since 2014 with the release of her maiden cap classique. Her portfolio now also comprises a pinot gris as well as a sangiovese, something of a vinous wave to her forebears in those distant Knynsa forests.
Il Geco Pinot Gris 2023
If you’re familiar with the crisp, Italian-style known as pinot grigio, this is not it. Rather, these grapes sprung from poor, sandy Stellenbosch soils have yielded small bunches that deliver concentrated aromas and flavours of white peach, lemongrass, orange-citrus, and white almond, all gliding along a backdrop of creamy acidity and fine phenolic grip. They’ve been whole bunch-pressed, naturally fermented and aged in old oak on the lees for 12-months.
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