Orbitofrontal Cortex

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A white blend according to Pieter’s conscious mind, named after the scientific name for the part of your brain where conscious decisions are made – Inspired by Limbic 2015 (a wine from his subconscious). 

In October 2015 Pieter was sitting on a plane heading to Johannesburg, next to a guy who had started a marketing company called Neural Sense, based in Cape Town which conducts market research by tapping into people’s subconscious reactions to various inputs. 

Pieter told him if ever he wanted to do something with wine he was welcome to get in contact. And he did. Three months later, he was sitting in his winery hooked up to machines. All his subconscious reactions (in the limbic part of his brain) to each of the different blending components were measured and recorded – a camera looking him in the eyes (for eye reactions), a heart rate monitor on his chest, something on his arm (for arousal levels e.g. heat/sweat) and a mobile EEG device on his head (for monitoring his brain waves). 

The analysis of the data took months, and in the meantime they decided to blend a control – the best possible white blend from the same parcels – making use of the conscious mind; the Orbitofrontal Cortex. When the results came, the two wines were so different! They blended both Limbic and Orbitofrontal Cortex and bottled the 2 wines. BlankBottle was not trying to prove anything with this experiment, they were just trying to have fun. 

“No rules” is how Pieter Walser describes this brilliant 12-variety, 18-vineyard Western Cape blend dominated by Clairette Blanche and Verdelho. More than the sum of its considerable parts, it’s poised, textured and refreshing, with some subtle skin tannins, alluring patisserie and wildflower aromas, flavours of lime, orange peel and yellow apple and a mineral core. Tim Atkin MW – South Africa Report 2025 – 95 points