Markovitis, Alkemi Rosé, 2023
About the Wine
The Alkemi Rosé is a distinctive and gastronomic expression of Xinomavro, Greece’s noble red grape. Inspired by the deeper, more structured rosés of southern France, it offers a refined take without the heavy influence of new oak. This is a wine that combines character with drinkability, freshness with depth.
Aromas of decaying flowers, ripe pink grapefruit and a touch of spice lead into a textured and savoury palate. There’s a core of refreshing acidity and a gently bittersweet finish that makes it both serious and easy to come back to.
The fruit comes from vineyards in Polla Nera, a small village in the northern part of the Naoussa appellation, planted at 250 metres above sea level. Soils are a mix of schist, clay and limestone, lending the wine its mineral backbone. The grapes are handpicked and carefully sorted before a short maceration. A portion of the juice is then drawn off to produce the rosé. Fermentation takes place with wild yeasts in stainless steel tanks, followed by eight months of resting in tank. The wine is bottled unfined, with just a light filtration to preserve its clarity and texture.
About the Winery
Markovitis Winery, once known as Château Pegasus, is a historic and pioneering estate in the heart of Naoussa in northern Greece. It was the first winery in the country to embrace organic viticulture, with the initial vineyards planted back in 1970 by the current winemaker’s grandfather.
Today, the estate is run by Markos Markovitis, representing the third generation of the family. The winery farms 24 hectares of Xinomavro in the foothills of the Vermio Mountains, where cool temperatures and diverse soils bring freshness and complexity to the fruit.
Markovitis follows a minimal intervention philosophy, working with wild yeasts, avoiding unnecessary additives and allowing the vineyard to speak through the wine. This approach results in pure, expressive wines that are deeply rooted in their place of origin. Alkemi Rosé is a clear example of that vision — honest, elegant and full of character.
About the Wine
This vibrant skin-contact Pinot Gris is the first release from Supernature, a new South African wine project with creativity at its core. Made by the talented Natasha Williams, it’s a joyful and expressive wine that captures the coastal freshness of its origin and the energy of its makers.
Pale orange in the glass, it opens with aromatics of gooseberry, ripe citrus, florals and a touch of herbaceous spice. On the palate, it’s bright and concentrated, with lively acidity and a gentle chalky grip from time on skins. Fun and fresh, but with real texture and presence, it’s a wine that’s as at home on a sunny lunch table as it is paired with more serious food.
The fruit comes from a small, sustainably farmed vineyard in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, planted on a south-facing slope at 200–250 metres above sea level. The decomposed granite soils and cooling ocean breezes from the nearby Atlantic give the wine its tension and clarity. Natasha has worked closely with this site for the past five years, managing the vineyard with a focus on colour development and phenolic ripeness. Early leaf removal (in January) encourages light and airflow around the berries, enhancing both aromatics and structure.
Grapes are handpicked, then fermented on their skins for around 10 days, with two punchdowns per day to extract colour, flavour and tannin. After a gentle pressing, the wine rests undisturbed in stainless steel tanks before bottling.
About the Winery
Supernature is a bold and playful new wine label from Ben and Angela Jordaan, the founders of the Noble Vice wine festival, one of South Africa’s most progressive wine events. The project is rooted in collaboration, creativity, and a shared love of vibrant, expressive wines.For their debut vintage, they teamed up with Natasha Williams, an exciting young winemaker known for her precise, thoughtful approach and ability to draw elegance from South Africa’s diverse terroirs. Natasha’s involvement in this project adds both depth and vision. Her experience working with this particular vineyard, combined with her light-touch winemaking style, results in a wine that is both accessible and refined.
Georg Breuer, Salz der Erde, 2022
About the Wine
‘Salz der Erde’ — “Salt of the Earth” — is an expressive, textural Riesling that captures the cool, stony precision of the far western edge of Germany’s Rheingau region. A blend of two distinctive sites in the village of Lorch, the wine combines slate-driven energy with quartzite elegance for a striking, mineral-driven style that balances intensity and finesse.
Fruit comes from Krone and Kapellenberg, two southwest-facing vineyards located at 150 and 180 metres above sea level. Krone, with its weathered slate soils, contributes tension and salinity, while the quartzite-rich Kapellenberg lends roundness and floral lift. The cool climate and steep slopes of Lorch — one of the Rheingau’s most under-the-radar villages — help produce Rieslings with fine acidity and distinct site expression.
Grapes are handpicked and vinified separately by site. Kapellenberg is fermented in stainless steel, while Krone is fermented in large, neutral 1,200-litre German oak barrels. Both parcels rest on their lees for ten months before blending and bottling, giving the wine its beautifully creamy texture and subtle weight.
In the glass, the wine is bright and energetic, with aromas of lime zest, white peach and wet stone. The palate is layered and finely tuned — salty, citrusy, and rounded, with a long, mouth-coating finish. It’s a Riesling of both power and poise, and one that will continue to evolve in bottle.
About the Winery
Weingut Georg Breuer is one of the most respected names in the Rheingau and a true standard-bearer for dry German Riesling. Founded in 1880, the estate has long been a champion of terroir-driven, expressive wines from some of the Rheingau’s steepest and most storied sites.
Today, the estate is run by Theresa Breuer, who took over at just 20 years old after the sudden passing of her father, Bernhard Breuer — a visionary figure in the movement toward dry German Rieslings. Since then, Theresa has quietly become one of the most admired winemakers in Germany. She has not only upheld the estate’s reputation but pushed it forward, embracing sustainability, lower intervention in the cellar, and precise, site-specific expressions of Riesling.
The vineyards are farmed according to “Fair’n Green” sustainable practices and are organically managed. Theresa’s philosophy in both the vineyard and the cellar is one of restraint and transparency — allowing each site to speak clearly through the wine.
‘Salz der Erde’ is a perfect expression of that vision: vibrant, mineral, and honest, offering a deep sense of place from the rocky hillsides of Lorch.
Gonzalez Bastias, Tierra Madre, 2020
About the Wine
Tierra Madre is a soulful, skin-fermented white wine made from a 50/50 blend of Semillon and Torontel, grown on ancient vines along the south bank of the Maule River. It’s a wine that is as much about place and tradition as it is about flavour — unfiltered, unpolished, and deeply expressive of the land from which it comes.
The fruit is sourced from 200-year-old bush vines, growing on their own roots in river sand over granitic bedrock, with no irrigation. This part of the Maule Valley, known locally as the “rulo” or dry coastal zone, lies 44 km inland from the Pacific Ocean. That maritime influence brings cool air to the vineyards, naturally protecting the vines from disease and maintaining freshness in the grapes.
The grapes are hand-harvested, de-stemmed using a zaranda (a traditional wooden screen), and then fermented in open lagares with native yeasts. During fermentation, the grapes are foot-trodden, following ancestral practices that preserve the integrity of the fruit. After fermentation, the wine spends three months in old Chilean Raulí oak foudres before being bottled by hand, unfiltered, with a small addition of sulphur.
In the glass, Tierra Madre is golden-hued, textural, and alive with flavour. Expect aromatics of dried citrus peel, chamomile, stone fruit and herbs, layered over a gently tannic structure with a savoury, slightly saline finish. It’s rustic yet elegant, and endlessly food-friendly.
About the Winery
Viña González Bastías is a deeply personal project rooted in tradition, place, and love. The estate is located in the Maule Valley, one of Chile’s oldest wine regions, where José Luis Gómez Bastías represents the fifth generation of his family to farm and make wine on this land. Their vineyards are not shaped by trends, but by the rhythms of nature and the wisdom of the past.
Unlike many producers in Maule and Bío Bío who have removed old bush vines in favour of more commercial varieties, José Luis and his partner Daniela Lorenzo — an agronomist and viticulturalist — have chosen a different path. They have preserved the ancient País and heritage white vines, farming uncertified organic and maintaining traditional methods of both viticulture and winemaking.
Their four-hectare vineyard is more than just a site of production — it’s a living ecosystem, shared with fruit trees, wild animals, and grazing sheep who keep the grass down and fertilise the soil. The philosophy is clear: to treat farming as a way of life, not just a business.
Since meeting in 2013, Daniela and José Luis have grown the project together, working side by side in the vineyard and cellar. They continue to replant and restore old sites, always with the same low-intervention, respectful approach. Tierra Madre is a direct expression of this philosophy — a wine made with care, tradition, and a deep sense of connection to the earth.
Adega A Barouta, Ventoleiro Tinto, 2020
About the Wine
A wine born of passion, friendship and terroir, Ventoleiro Tinto is a deeply expressive, small-batch red made from a field blend of native Galician grapes: Caiño Longo, Garnacha Tintorera, and Albariño (yes, the white grape, adding aromatic lift and texture). It comes from just 0.5 hectares of old vines, grown on granite soils in the scenic Val do Avia in Ribeiro, Galicia.
The vineyards sit between 170 and 230 metres above sea level, with varied exposures that capture both Mediterranean warmth and Atlantic freshness. The area is cooled by consistent ocean breezes, which preserve natural acidity and keep ripeness in check, resulting in a wine that is perfumed, energetic, and beautifully poised.
Grapes are hand-harvested, carefully sorted, and fermented as 100% whole clusters with native yeasts. There are no pump-overs or aggressive extraction techniques, just gentle infusion to preserve elegance and purity. Each variety is vinified separately in stainless steel, then aged for 7 months in 10hl Stockinger oak barrels. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with just 1,300 bottles made in total.
In the glass, Ventoleiro is vibrant and savoury, with lifted aromatics of wild red berries, dried herbs and peppery spice. There’s tension, minerality and a subtle earthiness that reflects the granite soils and cool climate. It’s a wine that feels both rooted and refined, with freshness and depth in perfect balance.
About the Winery
Adega a Barouta is one of Galicia’s most exciting new micro-estates, created by a trio of heavy-hitting names in Spanish wine: Javier Alén (founder of Viña Mein) and Daniel Landi and Fernando García of Comando G fame. After six years of working together informally, the three friends made the leap in 2020 to establish a winery of their own, focused entirely on old-vine, native-varietal wines from Ribeiro.
They found their home in the historic terraced vineyards of the Avia Valley, cultivating just 1.7 hectares scattered across the riverbanks and hillsides. The soils are pure granite, the vineyards are dry-farmed, and the winemaking is done with humility and care.
In 2022, winemaker Roberto Núñez joined the project, bringing with him experience from Chile and time in the cellars of Comando G. He now leads the vineyard work and winemaking as the “right hand” of the team. Together, their shared goal is simple: to let the vineyards speak and the wines stay true to their origin. Working only with indigenous Galician varieties, and embracing low-intervention techniques, Adega a Barouta is a project driven by respect — for tradition, for terroir, and for the friendships that built it. Ventoleiro Tinto is the embodiment of that philosophy in liquid form.
Testalonga, Mielie Magenta, 2023
About the Wine
Mielie Magenta is a fresh, lighter-style red made from Grenache Noir, grown in the Swartland and produced with minimal intervention. The grapes are fermented as whole bunches with native yeasts and left on skins for around 14 days, before being pressed and aged in a combination of old 500L oak barrels and stainless steel tanks.
The resulting wine is light-bodied, bright, and fruit-driven, with aromas of red berries, subtle florals, and a hint of spice. The palate is clean and precise, with soft texture and fresh acidity. It's designed to be easy to enjoy and works well lightly chilled.
We visited Craig and Carla Hawkins at their Swartland farm in November 2024, where we first tasted this vintage of Mielie Magenta. We’re pleased to be bringing it to the UK for the first time, available exclusively through The Sourcing Table.
About the Winery
Testalonga is the personal project of Craig and Carla Hawkins, based in the Swartland region of South Africa. Since its founding, Testalonga has focused on low-intervention winemaking and organic viticulture, with the aim of producing wines that reflect their origin clearly and honestly.
The Hawkinses work with dry-farmed vines and use native yeasts, no additives beyond a small amount of sulphur at bottling and avoid any aggressive handling in the cellar. Their wines are known for their clarity, freshness, and distinctive style.
The Mielie range, which includes both a red (Magenta) and white (Green), represents the more approachable and accessible side of the Testalonga portfolio, made in small quantities with the same attention to detail as their more experimental cuvées.
