Rudera Robusto Chenin Blanc 2008

• The 2002 vintage was a winner of the 2005 Wine Chenin Challenge with 4½ stars and one of the first three wines in South Africa to achieve SUPER CHENIN status from the Chenin Blanc Association based on constant high quality. The 2006 vintage is one of only two wines who received this honour for the fith time.
• At the 2004 Rendez-vous du Chenin in Loire, the 2002 Robusto Chenin blanc was voted as part of the best expressions of Chenin Blanc in the world. The 2005 Robusto Chenin blanc repeated this feat at the 2006 Rendez-vous du Chenin in Loire.
• The Robusto Chenin blanc 2005 was awarded five stars in the John Platter SA Wine Guide in the 2007 edition.
• Grape, December 2006 chose a panel of two dozen wine professionals to vote for the Cape's best individual wines, with a track record of excellence over the past five releases and the Robusto Chenin blanc was named fourth best White Wine in South Africa.
• The Robusto Chenin blanc 2006 received 4½ stars in The Platter Guide 2008.
• In the WINE Chenin Challenge of 2008, the Robusto Chenin Blanc 2005 came second and the 2006 vintage came sixth in this annual competition.

ageing : 

Drinking exceptionally well now and will gain in intricacy over the next four years.

These Chenin Blanc vineyards are situated on the foot of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch.

This wine comes from two vineyards, both bush vines. One was planted on broken shale in 1979 and is fully mature, the other planted on Koffieklip in 1985.

Canopy management of the vines ensured natural high acidity and full flavour concentration. No irrigation is available.

The grapes were hand-picked in the early morning from old bush vines at 26.2° Balling. The yield was 5.7 ( 33.5 hl/ha) tons per hectare, with an acid of 8.7 g/l and a pH of 3.2.