The Smiley wines came about by chance when blending together Chenin blanc “off-cuts” of the 2011 and 2012 vintage, thus making a non-vintage wine. The idea was taken an expanded by experimenting with different fermentation and aging techniques such as, with the Chenin blanc, including skin-contact, under-flor yeast maturation, intentionally oxidizing and “maderizing” barrels by leaving them in the sun plus blending in fresh juice from the current vintage before bottling. The Smiley Red likewise is a non-vintage but multi-variety blend of Mediterrean climate grapes grown in the Swartland area of South Africa. Smiley is intended to be a cutting edge, quirky, naturally made un-fined wine with no addition of yeasts, enzymes or acid. The name and label itself is tongue-in-cheek given that in South Africa a “smiley” is a sheep’s head, the offcut of the animal yet a delicacy to eat.