Kershaw

Made in tiny quantities, Richard Kershaw MW's wines are always in high demand. Born in Sheffield, Richard trained and worked as a chef before discovering wine. After extensive travelling he settled in South Africa in 1999, and by 2009 he was Group Winemaker at Mulderbosch and Kanu. He established Richard Kershaw Wines in 2012, specialising in the cool-climate wines of Elgin. Being one of the few MW’s to make his own wine, he uses his vast knowledge to craft stunning wines that are easily a match for some of the world’s very best wines

Clonal Selection

Clonal selection is the process whereby an individual plant is chosen from a vineyard for its particular superior properties, such as yield or fruit ripeness. Cuttings are then taken for propagation. It is a long and expensive process but has been shown to improve yields and wine quality. Due to mutations over time, some varieties (notably Pinot Noir) exhibit considerable variation between different clones. Whereas Old World countries tend to have a broad selection of clones, some New World countries may have very few or even just a single clone for a variety. There is an argument that by using a range of clones, the resulting wine is likely to be more characterful and complex. Richard Kershaw is passionate about clones and uses a palate of them to create wines of extraordinary nuance and finesse.

G.P.S. (Grape Positioning System)

Richard Kershaw is based in Elgin but his travels around the Cape occasionally have brought him to encounter small parcels of vines elsewhere which he has identified as uniquely interesting for their terroir. These site-specific plots are the product of precise geographically location, hence the reference to GPS. The wines are produced from a single clone, planted on a single soil type.