Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc 2022 6x75cl

Layers of naartjíes, apricots and cling peaches with hints of flint and fynbos. Delicate oak flavours finishes the wine beautifully. This wine can be enjoyed now, but with careful cellaring it should age gracefully over the next 10 years.

Vineyards

The grapes for this wine came from a couple of old (average age: 30 years) Chenin Blanc vineyards around Stellenbosch. Careful canopy management was done to ensure enough sunlight, but protected the grapes against direct sunlight. The average yield of these wonderful old vineyards was 4t/ha.

Vintage

The 2022 season started with a great winter and uninterrupted cold unit accumulation. Budding started very late due to a cold front and heavy snow fall at the end of August and moderate temperatures during September. This facilitated even growing and ripening in the latter part of the season. Berries and bunches were a little bit bigger due to high water availability and also meant 5% increase on crop yield on 2021, bringing us back in line with our average yield over the last 10 years. In the winery itself it was a memorable vintage. The grapes ripened on time and staggered well so the cellar was never under pressure and picking could be at exactly the right time. These vintages usually shape up to be some of the best, so watch this space!

Winemaking

The grapes were handpicked early in the morning and immediately crushed into holding tanks. We gave extended (24hours) skin contact to extract all the Chenin flavours to ensure good structure in the final wine. Only the free run juice was used and settled for 1 day before inoculation with selected yeast strains. The juice was racked into barrels for fermentation. No new barrels were used to ensure that unique characters of the specific terroirs were preserved in the wine. After fermentation the wine was aged on the primary lees for another 6 months before being racked out and prepared for bottling.

Enjoy with:

• Grilled and Roasted White Meats
• Fish/Shellfish
• Salads and Picnics
• Casseroles/Stews
• Mild Creamy Cheeses
• Mature Strong Cheeses

Perfect with seafood