Why it matters
The producer
Clayton Reabow and Craig McNaught made Lokaia as a joint Franschhoek project, with Semillon tied to Bo-Hoek, Chardonnay to the valley floor and Cabernet Franc to Du Toitskop Peak. The range is built around grape and place pairings.
Reabow had led Môreson for fourteen years by 2021 and had won both the Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year and Winemaker of the Year awards. McNaught is a second generation winemaker and co owner of Stony Brook Vineyards in Franschhoek's Bo-Hoek. Lokaia brings their work together under one label, with each bottle linked to a different part of the valley.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Franschhoek's proposed subregions divide the valley into contrasting areas with different vineyard origins. Lokaia follows those distinctions through Bo-Hoek, the valley floor and Du Toitskop Peak, keeping the grape variety attached to its source.
Bo-Hoek is associated with Semillon, the valley floor with Chardonnay, and the mountain vineyard at Du Toitskop Peak with Cabernet Franc. The place names are part of the range, alongside the grape names.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Early picking is part of Lokaia's method. Depending on the vintage, the wines can reach full fruit ripeness at potential alcohol levels between 10.5% and 12%. Skin contact takes place during and after fermentation, with differing durations across the range.
Two wines were fermented and aged in amphora. Terracotta amphorae are clay vessels that permit slow oxygen exchange, allowing wine to evolve without oak influence. Skin contact keeps the fermenting wine with the grape skins, which can add colour, texture and phenolic grip.
Wines to know
The range in view
The 2022 range contains two white wines and one red. Pound of Flesh is Semillon from Stony Brook vineyards in Franschhoek's Bo-Hoek. The Sandman is Chardonnay from a Môreson vineyard on the Franschhoek valley floor. Call of the Void is Cabernet Franc from a Franschhoek Pass mountain vineyard identified as Du Toitskop Peak.
The bottles share early picking, skin contact and amphora fermentation, while the grape and source change from one wine to the next. Pound of Flesh and The Sandman give the range its white wine breadth; Call of the Void brings the mountain Cabernet Franc bottling.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Open Pound of Flesh first. It is the Semillon from Stony Brook's Bo-Hoek vineyards, placing one grape beside one Franschhoek source. The other named wines shift to valley floor Chardonnay and mountain Cabernet Franc, while Pound of Flesh keeps the bottle's range role narrow and clear. Its early picking, skin contact and amphora method place the central Lokaia choices inside a single white wine.