If you think you know what a South African white wine tastes like, The Grape Cavalier is here to change your mind. Sakkie Mouton is one of the Cape’s most adventurous winemakers, and this blend of Palomino and Colombard is about as leftfield as it gets — in the best possible way. Palomino, best known as the grape of Fino Sherry, is rarely seen as a still table wine anywhere in the world, let alone South Africa. But in Mouton’s hands it reveals a completely different side of itself: textured, saline, and fascinatingly complex, with a natural freshness that Colombard amplifies beautifully. The result is a wine of real originality — a nose of white peach, dried citrus peel, and a subtle nutty, almost oxidative note that is intriguing rather than challenging, and a palate that is dry, textured, and alive with a saline, mineral energy and a long, distinctive finish. Not a wine for the faint-hearted — but for the curious, it is an absolute revelation.