THE CAPSULE| August 2003
The Flagstone Club Launch

The bottling and labeling season is upon us. I fall asleep with the clinking of bottles on the bottling line still reverberating in my head. After a while it sounds like a dysfunctional, irritatingly precise percussion group practicing the same three notes for 16 hours a day.

And then the labelling starts. Labelling is a great test of character. I personally know hundreds of winemakers who have started drinking heavily due to the pressures and frustrations of labeling.

We start off as mostly teetotaler boys and girls, earnestly trying to translate our terroir. Sooner or later however we have to start labeling our creations. And then the slow slide into slurring and delusions of grandeur starts. Well that's our excuse and we're sticking to it.

The one really satisfying thing about labeling is the result. The enduring thrill of opening a newly labeled, new vintage wine keeps us going.

The Flagstone Club - Global Launch

After three years work we have finally managed to get a global deliver structure in place that guarantees professionalism and efficient service. It has been a logistical adventure!

We will be launching our private client club called The Flagstone Club next month. Flagstone Club members will be able to order mixed wines by the case, delivered straight to their door throughout the world. Initially this will only be available in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. From November 2003 onwards we will be offering this service in London (within the M25), Germany and Holland.

It will not be long before this service will be offered to customers in much of Canada and Scandinavia as well - hopefully by the end of the year. The rest of America will follow, as well as the rest of Europe. Besides all our wines by the case (see price list attached) we are offering three special mixed cases. Our Welcome To Flagstone Tasting Case, our Special Selection Strata Series Case and our Daily Philosophy Fuel Case.

Our Welcome To Flagstone Tasting Case (Price R516 for 12 bottles) is an introductionary case of 12 DIFFERENT Flagstone wines. Each case will come with a detailed tasting sheet explaining the origin of the wine, offering food pairings and suggested magnificent views over which to gaze while sipping:

Whites
1 x Flagstone Noon Gun 2003
(The 2002 was recommended by UK wine writers Jancis Robinson and Matthew Jukes. It is a big hit in the UK and Holland. The 2003 is better)
1 x Flagstone Heywood House Sauvignon Blanc 2001 (Most recent award: This was the highest scoring barrel-fermented Sauvignon at the Fairburn Capital Wine Show this year)
1 x Flagstone Strata Glass Carriage Chenin 2002
(Not released yet. A strapping, huge blockbuster of a Chenin)
1 x Flagstone Two Roads Chardonnay 2001
(Most recent award: Silver Veritas Medal)
Rose
1 x Flagstone Semaphore Rose 2002
(Most recent award: Highest awarded Rose at the Fairburn Capital Wine Showthis year)
Reds
1 x Flagstone Longitude 2002
(Not released yet. Very satisfying to drink already)
1 x Flagstone Cellarhand Backchat Blend 2002
(The Cellarhand brand is a joint venture with our staff. Great wine. Not released yet)
1 x Flagstone Strata Heartbreak Grape Pinot Noir 2001
(From the oldest vineyard block on Muratie Estate since uprooted. Fantastic Pinot Noir. Most recent award: Silver Veritas medal)
1 x Flagstone Strata The Shindig Shiraz 2000
(From our library collection, held back to mature and now ready for real enjoyment. Lots of medals over the years)
1 x Flagstone Dragon Tree Cabernet Sauvignon & Pinotage 2001
(Most recent award: 2nd placed Cape Blend at this years Juliet Cullinan awards in Gauteng)
1 x Flagstone BK5 Pinot Noir 2001
(Last-ever vintage from a wonderful old block on Zevenwacht Estate. Lots of accolades as well)
1 x Flagstone Music Room 2001
(The Flagship Flagstone wine. Most recent award: 2nd place at the Juliet Cullinan Wine Awards)

Price R516 per case, delivered free in Cape Town, Gauteng and Durban. Outlying areas will attract a further deliver charge. Please call for quotes. We should be able to supply exactly what is listed above, if we can't we'll call you and offer a replacement. This offer is valid for all orders placed before 31st December 2003.

Our Special Selection Strata Series Case (Price R538 for 12 bottles)
As followers of Flagstone know, the Strata Series is our range of one-off wines that we only ever do once. There is always an interesting reason why we can't make this wine again. Sometimes the vineyard is pulled out! Sometimes the farm is sold or the farmer gets divorced and his estranged wife wants the grapes. Sometimes we just feel like experimenting with a really cool blend and we end up loving it so much we bottle it. The names of the different wines are explained on the back labels.

3 x Flagstone Strata Glass Carriage Chenin Blanc 2002 (This is a blend of young fruit from a wonderful farmer in the Piketburg region and an old, old block of grapes on the Pickernieskloof ridge. You have to taste this wine to really appreciate the extra-ordinary complexity and class of this grape. We love it, but beware; it is not for the faint-hearted)
3 x Flagstone Strata In Cahoots Merlot & Pinotage Blend 2001
(One of the groovy blends we loved. A real hit in Scandinavia and Germany. Very different tannin structure to our normal Flagstone style probably due to the Elgin Merlot)
3 x Flagstone Strata The Shindig Shiraz 2000
(We kept this wine back to see how it would mature. It is really looking
great and offers a succulent, mouth filling, seriously sexy take on Shiraz)
3 x Flagstone Strata The Heartbreak Grape Pinot Noir 2001
(From the oldest vineyard block on Muratie Estate since pulled out. Fantastic Pinot Noir. Most recent award: Silver Veritas medal)

Price R538 per case, delivered free in Cape Town, Gauteng and Durban. Outlying areas will attract a further deliver charge. Please call for quotes. We should be able to supply exactly what is listed above, if we can't we'll call you and offer a replacement. This offer is valid for all orders placed before 31st December 2003.


Daily Philosophy Fuel Case (Price R523 for 12 bottles)
3 x Flagstone Heywood House Sauvignon Blanc 2001
3 x Flagstone Two Roads Chardonnay 2001
3 x Flagstone BK5 Pinot Noir
3 x Flagstone Strata The Shindig Shiraz 2000

Price R523 per case, delivered free in Cape Town, Gauteng and Durban. Outlying areas will attract a further deliver charge. Please call for quotes. We should be able to supply exactly what is listed above, if we can't we'll call you and offer a replacement. This offer is valid for all orders placed before 31st December 2003.

Bruce Jack

Winemaker