BLANKbottle Little William
“The wine is named after my chance meeting with a little boy called William on the Witzenberg mountains. It’s been a fascinating story from the start, but became even more bizarre at the end of last year, with another chance meeting"
Little William reloaded!
In January 2016, I was driving back from a tiny little vineyard in the Koue Bokkeveld (Ceres Plateau). Cruising along at the 100km/h speed limit, I came to a very winding stretch of road leading towards the Witzenberg pass. Suddenly, for a split second, I thought I saw something in the middle of the road. I had just come through a super sharp bend and had to jump on the brakes with both feet. When I finally got my 470 000-km-on-the-clock Toyota to stop, there, on the white line in the middle of the road, stood a little blonde boy. I guessed him around a year and a half old. He was in his nappies and had a white T-shirt on, perfectly camouflaged on the white line. Unsure of what to do once I’d taken him out of the road, I thought it a good plan to prompt him and see which direction he takes off in (with myself of course right behind).
About 200 meters further along the road he (we) crossed a little bridge heading towards the other side of the canal. He turned up a dirt road which led to a farmhouse about 300 meters up a hill. Keeping up to his snail-like pace, we arrived at the house more or less 10 minutes later (in my experience with farm dogs, it wouldn’t have been wise to carry him). When the gardener saw us approaching, he called out to a woman at the house and judging by her reaction, she must’ve been his mom and he must’ve been missing for a while.
It was a bit of an emotional and chaotic environment so, knowing he was safe, I just turned around and left without introducing myself.
So each time I present a tasting with Little William wine as part of the line-up, I get the same question: “Why is it called, Little William?”, followed almost without fail by: “What does the family have to say about you calling a wine, Little William?” My answer is always the same: “I never went back, they don’t even know the wine exists. But I am convinced there will be this one day where I’d be sitting at some local bar in Knysna, drinking a beer all by myself when the young guy next to me turns to me and introduces himself as William from Ceres.” And I’ll be able to tell him: “Eendag, lank, lank gelede het hierdie oom jou lewe gered!”
For 4 years I had the privilege of telling the story of little William. Until last year. When Chapter 2 happened.
In November, we took our youngest son for a minor operation at Panorama Mediclinic, Tygerberg, Cape Town. The lady at reception looked at us with a puzzled look on her face. We later learnt that there had been a mistake on the paperwork and they were under the impression that he was an adult. They had subsequently booked him into an adult ward. The man next to him had drunk a cup of coffee at 6:00am that morning with milk in. His operation therefore had to be postponed and he obviously missed his theatre time slot. He had to wait almost the whole day for the next slot. He and Sebastian eventually left for the theatre at more or less the same time. I went to get us a cup of coffee, and as she always does, Aneen started making conversation with the milk-in-the-coffee guy’s wife. On my return Aneen said: ”They are from Ceres, tell her the little William story.” I cringed, thinking: “Why would I do that??” I tried to let her comment slide and filled the awkward silence with useless words. We carried on with the small talk and she ended up telling us that she is a vet and her husband is a farmer. “Where do you farm in Ceres?”, I asked. “In the Witzenberg mountains, on a farm called Blah-blah-blah”, she answered.
And, as you’ve probably guessed by now, that was the name of the farm where I dropped little William that morning. It started dawning on me that it might be my Knysna-bar-thing moment happening in a totally bizarre, different way. “Do you have a son called William?” I asked. “No”, she replied, “but my nephew is called William and they live on the same farm, in the house next to the road.” We did the sums and he would’ve been exactly 1 and a half years at the time. So it turns out it wasn’t a beer-in-hand pub in Knysna, but a coffee-in-hand hospital in Cape Town. I should’ve listened to Aneen right from the start… so I told her the whole story and she phoned her sister-in-law. “Did you ever lose William on the farm?” she asked (I don’t think that’s the type of story you volunteer to tell your extended family if not prompted). “Yes”, she said. “There was this one day…”
PS: This incident made me think about everyone’s life stories. I’m convinced that these kind of things happen to everyone. The difference is that I just happened to call a wine Little William, and I have a reason to re-tell this story. If I didn’t, I would’ve possibly only re-told the story once or twice, but I can imagine how the finer details could’ve gotten lost between profit margins and VAT. I have a responsibility to convey the story in an honest and factual way. You know how easily a story gets blurry. So each time I drive the road, I recheck my facts: Where exactly did William stand? Distances? The name of the farm? The story then became part of our story. And that day when the lady mentioned Ceres, the first thing Aneen thought about was the boy in the road.” Winemaker’s notes
Bottle size: 750ml
Alc: 13%
For Delivery within SA:
We are based in Cape Town, South Africa and all orders are shipped out from our one central warehouse in Montague Gardens in the Western Cape. On average, deliveries outside of Cape Town are completed within 2 to 5 working days of the order being placed(If priority delivery is selected). Unfortunately, not every order goes 100% according to plan and orders can, in some rare cases be delayed. We also offer a cheaper shipping option, available at checkout, this option takes 5 to 9 working days on average for delivery.
You will see different shipping rates at checkout. These rates are based on the products in your cart as well as your exact delivery address.
We opt to give shipping options at checkout so that shipping fees are as transparent as possible, we do not add any shipping fees into our product pricing and we do not benefit or profit from the shipping fees offered.
If the weight exceeds 25kg's there will be an excess delivery charge. We will notify you first before any excess charge is applied.
For National and outlying areas we make us of third party delivery services. Should third party couriers contact you regarding your delivery please always confirm the communication with a staff member from Mothercity Liquor. Should the 3rd party courier not be able to reach you, we will contact you to make alternative arrangements.
Unfortunately we live in a country where crime is high and people steal things (especially alcohol). Our couriers have certain areas marked as high risks for Hijacking of parcels. Alternative delivery arrangements will be made to get your order to you safely for these areas. If you'd like to contact us before ordering to check which areas are high risk, you can contact us on the following channels:
Whatsapp - 076 296 9860
Telephone - 021 569 3746
Email - info@mothercityliquor.co.za
Surcharges on Delivery
Certain orders over 25kg in weight, outlying areas and high risk areas will incur a delivery surcharge. Should there be a surcharge on delivery we will notify you first, before sending out your order.
International Shipping:
International shipping usually takes us between 4 to 8 days, but we do experience the occasional delay in certain countries when getting items cleared with customs. Once parcels arrive in your country excise duties and taxes are payable before the release of your order by the local customs offices.
International Shipping rates are dependent on weight and the country being shipped to. These rates are calculated at checkout.
Excise and Taxes due by customs in your country is based on the rates by your country and will be a percentage of the order value. This will be due once the order lands in your country and will need to be paid before the local authorities can release the order to you.
Strikes and Protests:
We understand that there may be delays in shipping and delivery times due to unforeseen circumstances such as strikes and protests. While we do our best to ensure timely delivery of your orders, situations beyond our control may impact the delivery process.
In case of such events causing delays, we will do our best to promptly inform our customers of any changes in delivery timelines through email and/or phone. We advise our customers to keep a keen eye on their tracking number for up-to-date information on the status of their delivery.We are not liable for any delays caused by strikes and protests and hence do not offer any compensation or refunds. However, we will work closely with our shipping partners to ensure that orders are delivered as soon as possible once the situation normalizes.We appreciate our customers' patience and understanding during such times and assure you that we will do everything in our power to minimize any inconvenience. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your order, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service team, who will be happy to assist you.
If there is something wrong with your product we will refund the full 100% back to you.
If you placed an order and would like to cancel you can email info@mothercityliquor.co.za and we will assist with the cancellation process.
Cancellations have a small fee of 10% due to the transaction fees we incur on each order.
If an order has already been sent out to you the shipping fee is not refundable.
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Returns:
If something is wrong with the product you are able to return it to us.
If you'd like to return an item all you need to do is email us at info@mothercityliquor.co.za and we will assist with the return process.
Our returns policy lasts 7 working days. If 7 working days have gone by since delivery of your purchase, unfortunately we can’t offer you a refund or exchange.
To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging.
The only types of goods are exempt from being returned are our Gift cards.
To complete your return, we require a receipt or proof of purchase - this can be in the form of email.
Please do not send your purchase back to the manufacturer.
Refunds:
Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund.
If you are approved, then your refund will be processed, and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within 5 business days.
Late or missing refunds:
If you haven’t received a refund yet, first check your bank account again.
Then contact your credit card company, it may take some time before your refund is officially posted.
Next contact your bank. There is often some processing time before a refund is posted.
If you’ve done all of this and you still have not received your refund yet, please contact us at info@mothercityliquor.co.za.
Sale/Special items:
Only regular priced items may be refunded, unfortunately sale/special items cannot be refunded.
Exchanges:
We only replace items if they are defective or damaged. If you need to exchange it for the same item, send us an email at info@mothercityliquor.co.za and send your item to: Unit 8, East End, Prime Park, Printers Way, Montague Gardens, 7441
Gifts
If the item was marked as a gift when purchased and shipped directly to you, you’ll receive a gift credit for the value of your return. Once the returned item is received, a gift certificate will be mailed to you.
If the item wasn’t marked as a gift when purchased, or the gift giver had the order shipped to themselves to give to you later, we will send a refund to the gift giver and he will find out about your return.
Shipping
To return your product, you should mail your product to: Unit 8, East End, Prime Park, Printers Way, Montague Gardens, 7441
You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund.
Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary.
If you are shipping an item(s) over R1 000.00, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We can't guarantee that we will receive your returned item.