When Portuguese explorers first saw the Southern tip of Africa in the late 1400s (1488 to be exact), they dubbed it “Cabo Tormentoso” or the “Cape of Storms”. There are multiple readings of the word Tormentoso: drama, torment, struggle.

All of these descriptions seem apt when you consider where the grapes are grown. The rocky shale soils of the beautiful Perdeberg region in Paarl is a tough place to be a grape-vine, but fortunately a bit of torment on the vine makes for flavourful grapes.

The sea creature on the label is based on the sea monsters that were used on ancient explorers' maps for decoration and to indicate danger and the unknown.

The Tormentoso wines are all sourced from dry-farmed (un-irrigated) vineyards in the Perdeberg region of Paarl. We are blessed with tremendous vineyard resources in this emerging wine region. At MAN Vintners we seek to identify unique, interesting parcels of vines on our growers’ farms and find ways to showcase these special vineyards. In the Perdeberg region we have a fantastic resource in older vines: over 200 hectares of vines older than 25 years.