Domaine Damascene

Damascene is a project launched in 2018 by winemaker Jean Smit, who, after gaining experience in vineyards abroad decided to return to South Africa. There, he acquired numerous vineyards around the Cape, of very high quality and some of the oldest planted in South Africa. The wines are vinified at Elgin, where transfers are made exclusively by gravity, and where the vats are designed to keep the marc cap submerged, thus avoiding unnecessary handling and allowing the wine to express itself naturally. The whites are whole-cluster pressed, then fermented and aged in 1,000-liter foudres, while the reds are vinified from whole grapes and mainly aged in 2,000-liter foudres. The philosophy behind Damascene is to tell the story, not of the owners or marketing trends, but of the vineyards themselves.