South Africa, Cape Town
Chenin BlancDescription
Soft aromas of dried apricots and ripe tropical fruit, with an oak and vanilla undertow on the nose. On the palate, there’s good acidity and rounded rich flavours of white flesh peaches, almond paste and creaminess.
Awards
Platinum Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits
Double Gold Veritas
5 stars Platter's South African Wine Guide
92 pts Tim Atkin
92 pts Decanter Points
Gold Concours Mondial de Bruxelles
Tasting Notes
Certificates
Alcohol
14.44%
Analytical data
dry
Vinification
Skin contact was limited to 6 hours and the free-run juice drained off to settle overnight before inoculation. The fermentation took place in a combination of 300L, 400L, 500L and 2500L ‘Tight Grain’ French oak barrels. The wine matured for 14 months in barrels; 60% were new fill, while the balance was second fill.
Vineyard: The vineyard is planted in the high hills of Tygerberg. The landscape is renowned for old geological formations, and the soil for Malmesbury shale. The proximity to the ocean is around 15 km.
Dryland, semi-trellised vines with an age of 36 years yielded the grapes for this wine. The cold ocean breezes tempered the heat, enabling the berries to hang on the vine for longer. They were picked in 4 parcels in late February, at a yield of approximately 8 tonnes per hectare.
Soil Type
The vineyard is planted in the high hills of Tygerberg. The landscape is characterized by very old geological formations and the soils are mainly Malmesbury shale. The proximity to the cold Atlantic Ocean is roughly 15 km.
Viticulture
Grapes were hand-harvested in 10kg lug boxes and pre-cooled before hand-sorting, destemming and crushing.
Maturation
The fermentation took place in 400 liter barrels. The wine matured for 14 months in French barrels, 46% new and 54% second fill.