Last week I met with Marlene Truter, owner of the new wine brand less, with Chardonnay 2021 and Pinotage 2020 cultivars. Its focus is more on sustainability, being sustainably grown, containing less alcohol, and uses the lightest glass bottles available.

The sustainability also pertains to the employee ethics, and so Marlene had a difficult task to find a wine producer who met her sustainability criteria, and would make the wine available in a smaller quantity, as she is starting off from scratch. Viljoensdrift in Robertson was chosen as a partnership that created an excellent fit, given her less brand values.

Marlene has a long history with the wine industry, having done the marketing for a number of wine-related bodies and associations. During Lockdown she did some contemplation about her career and her future, and she confirmed to herself that wine is her first love. What she wanted to do was to work for herself, and so the idea came to create her own wine label. She had ample time during Lockdown to do research on sustainability in the wine industry, and learnt that is more than just about the production of the grapes and making of the wine: it encompasses People (the ethical treatment of staff), Plant (organic, and low alcohol), and Profit (a fair remuneration of staff, the winemaker/owner, and fair prices to wine buyers).

Marlene evaluated a number of different wine producers, not wanting to be tied down to large volumes of wines, and felt a fit with Fred Viljoen of Viljoensdrift in Robertson, who was willing to provide 786 bottles of each cultivar. His wine estate is a member of WIETA, the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association, an important selection criterion for Marlene.

She made contact with wine branding and packaging specialist Tania Harrison of Whitespace Creative Direction, to establish her wine brand with integrity and authenticity, seeing Tania as a brave warrior in branding. Her company came up with the less brand name, from less is more.

Marlene wanted to maximise the sustainability of her brand, choosing the lightest weight bottle available from Consol. Instead of using paper for her labels, she selected cotton. She didn’t use a capsule to cover the corks, not necessary for the wines, she learnt, giving her bottles a naked neck. She used bio-green plant-based polymer carbon-neutral corks, making her bottles and corks recyclable. Her wines are certified by the Wine & Spirit Board.

The grapes used in her wines are sustainable, in being organically farmed, with fewer herbicides and no pesticides used. The farm owners are kind to their workers, and part of the farm has been donated to Cape Nature.

Marlene enthused about her two babies:

#  Chardonnay Unwooded 2021: made with grapes from older vines, fermented in stainless steel for six months, having a pale straw gold colour. Its taste is crisp and zesty citrus, with a subtle creaminess underneath it. It is an easy drinking wine, which expresses the Chardonnay grape. It is food friendly. It can be drunk now or cellared for two years. Bottle price R90.

#.  Pinotage 2020: it has a ruby plum colour, a luscious fruit nose, with a taste of dark cherry, plums and a hint of tobacco. It has been wood matured for 16 months in first-fill oak barrels. It has grippy tannins. It can be cellared for 10 – 15 years, and will reward one’s drinking patience. It is a perfect red meat, mushroom and aubergine pairing wine. Bottle price R160.

less wines, Marlene Truter,  Cell 083 294 6060. www.lessismorewine.com Instagram : @less.is.more.wine

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whaletalesblog.com www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide