7 Rows Snowbush wine
The iconic Snowbush has returned to the Lomond family with the 2024 vintage. Last produced in 2021 and prior to that in 2013. This unique wine is a blend of wooded Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon & Viognier. On the nose, the wine is showing complex floral and stone fruit notes with a hint of minerality. On the palate, the wine is soft, rounded and refined with layers of fruit and citrus notes. The presence of the oak supports the wine and adds complexity. The natural fresh acidity of this unique wine from Cape Agulhas adds great liveliness to this wine. This complexity and flavors come from very selective sourcing and obsessive attention to detail.
Only 841 bottles were produced.
Read here about the plant that inspired
the 7 Rows Snowbush wine
Along the windswept slopes of the Agulhas Plain, there is a plant you may walk past without noticing.
Until you touch it.
Brush your hand lightly across its leaves. Step through it on a warm afternoon. Crush a sprig between your fingers. Only then does it reveal itself—sharp, clean, medicinal, unmistakably fynbos.
This is Eriocephalus africanus: wild rosemary, kapokbos, or woody snowbush.
At Lomond Wine Estate, this quiet shrub is part of both the landscape and the story told through their 7 Rows Snowbush wine.
A Hidden Scent
Unlike many fragrant plants, Snowbush does not constantly announce itself. Its scent is held close – locked within fine, grey leaves.
It is only when the plant is disturbed that the aroma is released.
A passing animal. A footstep along a narrow path. A hand trailing absentmindedly through the shrub. Heat after rain. In these moments, the leaves yield their oils – rich in cineole, camphor, and other volatile compounds.
The result is not just a smell, but an experience: the living, breathing signature of the Cape Floristic Region.
Built to Withstand, Designed to Wait
Snowbush is shaped by restraint.
Its needle-like leaves conserve water. Its grey colouring reflects harsh sunlight. Its compact, woody form resists relentless coastal winds.
Everything about it is efficient, deliberate—built for survival in nutrient-poor soils and long dry seasons.
Even its scent follows this pattern. Rather than constantly releasing precious oils, the plant waits. Only when disturbed does it spend that energy, releasing its chemical defenses in a brief, potent burst.
Movement, Fire, and Return
After flowering, Snowbush produces soft, white seed heads – its “wool heads,” from which the name Eriocephalus is derived.
These tufts catch the wind and carry seeds across the landscape.
In a fire-driven ecosystem like fynbos, this strategy is essential. Flames may clear the vegetation, but beneath the ash, seeds wait. When conditions shift – light, nutrients, space – Snowbush is among the early plants to return.
It does not resist disturbance. It is shaped by it.
Quiet Contributions
Though easily overlooked, woody Snowbush supports a wide network of life.
Its flowers feed insects. Its structure offers shelter. Its roots help bind fragile soils. Even its chemistry – released in those brief moments of disturbance – plays a role in interactions with herbivores and microbes.
It is not a dominant species. But it is a constant presence, part of the fabric that holds the ecosystem together.
From Touch to Taste: Lomond’s Snowbush
At Lomond, the name Snowbush reflects more than a plant – it reflects a way of experiencing the landscape.
Just as the scent of Snowbush is only released through contact, so too does the character of a place reveal itself through engagement. Through walking, noticing, slowing down.
The wine draws its identity from the same environment that shapes the plant: coastal winds, mineral soils, and the intricate ecology of fynbos.
It is not about replication, but resonance.
Conservation as Care
As part of the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservancy, Lomond actively protects the landscape that sustains both plant and wine.
Their work includes:
- Removing invasive alien vegetation
- Restoring wetlands and natural systems
- Protecting intact fynbos habitats
- Supporting biodiversity across the estate.
In this context, species like woody Snowbush are not incidental – they are integral.
Conservation here is not separate from production. It is the foundation of it.
A Landscape You Have to Touch
Snowbush teaches something subtle.
Some things do not reveal themselves at a distance.
You have to brush past them. Walk through them. Engage, even lightly. Only then do they release what they carry.
The same is true of landscapes like Lomond. Their richness is not always obvious. It emerges through contact – through attention, through care.
And sometimes, all it takes is the lightest touch to release the essence of a place.