This is an offering of wines displaying particular character. The wines are not made to a formula but are chosen because they exhibit special flavours and textures. The experience of texture, sight and smell is captured in the name and label of this series.

Whilst showing our wines in Germany, we came across "sensory" paintings that illustrate the tasting experience of individual wines. In theory this sounds improbable but in practice most people correctly link a wine to the painting that depicts its taste.

Paintings of four wines in our collection were commissioned and the painting that matches the specific wine appears on its own individual label. This “sensory” label allows one to visually “taste” the wine before opening it.

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Sensory Shiraz 2004	Sensory Merlot 2004
Sensory Pinotage 2004	Sensory Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

For more information on the Sensory specialists and the work they are doing go to: www.dar-vino.de

The sparsely populated Namaqualand does not suffer the light pollution that plagues urban areas around the world. The dark nights and clean air result in a breathtaking cosmic display with the aptly-named Milky Way at its centre. The clear nights are also cooler and help bring down the average summer temperature. We pay homage to this phenomenon with the Stellar Range.

The wines are assembled from different farms, ferments and yeasts. Each wine in the blend starts with deep colour and ripe fruit and tannins. Individual nuances arise from organic agriculture, saline irrigation water, cooling afternoon winds, wild ferments and other still-to-be-discovered influences. Lightly wooded for structure rather than flavour, these wines offer a tasting experience that will provide a convincing argument for the ascendancy of organic over conventional wines.

The term RESERVE is often used to indicate a wine that is made in smaller quantities than the standard, and/or has received a special treatment like wooding. In our case the reserve Chardonnay indicates that it is a more serious wine that has been fermented with wood. The Sauvignon Blanc Reserve on the other hand indicates a selection of particularly good Sauvignon Blanc kept separate from the usual.

Sulphur dioxide is one of the oldest known food additives and has been used in wine since ancient times when sulphur was burnt before sealing the wine in the barrels. It also develops naturally in wine as part of the fermentation process.

However it is also added as a preservative to prevent oxidation of the wine and at the grape-crushing stage as a cleansing agent to kill unwanted bacteria and wild yeasts.

This innovative range of wines produced and bottled without the addition of sulphur dioxide, has been developed as a natural extension of Stellar's commitment to organic winemaking.

Now and then a wine is required that doesn't need a ritual on opening, whose departure from a collection is not accompanied by nostalgic memories of its purchase. A wine that doesn't need glasses you don't have. Sometimes one wants a wine to be a song heard a thousand times, something to hum to, tap to, work with. A wine that's finished before you get to know it, a wine you begin to miss only when it's gone. A wine that realises there are other things in life, a lot of other things. (Wine geeks may read the fine print)

The "Live-a-Little" range was created to be that wine. Made from our more generously yielding vineyards, the grapes were given the same care in the cold rooms and the crusher as our more serious offerings. Yeasts specially selected for this style were used. Ferment temperatures were kept in check and pump-overs done less vigorously. Earlier pressing, racking and filtering have retained the vibrant colour and fruit, and have resulted in an entry-level wine that will surprise and revive you.

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Red Wines
Really Ravishing Red 2007	Rather Revealing Rosé 2007
White Wines
Wildly Wicked White 2007	Slightly Sweet and Shameless 2007

Besides our own label brands we also specialise in Private Labels. A number of successful exports have been made to various countries around the world using our clients' own labels, or ones we have specially designed for them.

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Our area of the Western Cape is the only area in the world where Rooibos tea, known since the time of the San for its medicinal properties, can be cultivated. It seemed only natural to combine the South African sun with ripe Muscat d'Alexandrie grapes on a bed of organic Rooibos tea.

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Heaven on Earth Muscat d'Alexandrie 2006

Organic VerJuice
An increasingly popular culinary ingredient, the newfound interest in this medieval product is largely thanks to Maggie Beer. Our verjuice is also produced from the "green harvest" at veraison, but what makes it a little different is that the sugar is fermented out. The low sugar levels yield an alcohol content of 8%. This also gives the wine a longer shelf life. This tart verjuice (verwine) makes a wine-friendly dressing as tartness arises from the same acids to be found in wine.

Organic Verjuice

Organic Grapeseed Oil
This is Stellar's latest product in development. The last pressings of our Shiraz and Cabernet have been sieved and dried and the first experimental batch of oil pressed from their seeds. We are currently establishing production protocols for formal organic certification and the 2004 season should see grapeseed oil in full production.

Organic Grapeseed Oil

Distributors contact details and lists of retailers can be found here for: