The Liberator Episode 27 ‘World Turn’d Upside Down’ Grenache Blanc 2018 Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

The Liberator range comes from Richard Kelley MW, a Master of Wine with deep roots in the Cape who bottles small, single parcels as comic-strip episodes. Many are experimental batches or off-cuts from producers’ premium ranges, given a home they might otherwise never find. Richard Kelley lived and worked in South Africa for the best part of a decade, and it is that long familiarity with its cellars that lets him turn up wines like this.

Episode 27, playfully named World Turn’d Upside Down, is a Grenache Blanc sourced from De Morgenzon in Stellenbosch. Grenache Blanc is far more familiar from the southern Rhone than the Cape, where it remains a niche white, but in the right hands it gives a broad, textural wine with gentle spice.

The wine is from the 2018 vintage and a ripe 14.5% alcohol. Like every Liberator episode it was bottled once and will not be made again, so it is very much a snapshot of that parcel and year.

Expect a complex, textural white with notes of stone fruit, a whisper of spice and a mineral thread running through the finish. It has weight and grip rather than simple fruitiness, and rewards a little time in the glass.

If you enjoy Rhone whites or a serious, food-friendly Cape white, this is worth seeking out. Serve it with roast chicken, pork, creamy pasta or a firm cheese, and pour it a touch warmer than fridge-cold to catch the texture. It is a genuine conversation piece.