De Trafford Chenin Blanc 2012

The nose shows dried apricots, honey, nuts and damp hay with a hint of spicy oak. Shows wonderful nutty richness without losing fruit core, developing with great interest in the glass. More Rhone Valley than Loire with thick appealing texture. A long, clean, dry finish.

 Ideal with chilled lime flavoured avocado veloute’ with turmeric scented sea urchin or any other delicious seafood, fish or sushi.

variety : Chenin Blanc [ 100% Chenin Blanc ]
winemaker : David Trafford
wine of origin : Coastal
analysis : alc : 14.39 % vol  rs : 2.6 g/l  pH : 3.49  ta : 4.9 g/l  va : 0.69 g/l  so2 : 90 mg/l  fso2 : 28 mg/l  
type : White  style : Dry   wooded
pack : Bottle  closure : Cork  

ageing : Drink now to 2020.

in the vineyard : 2 blocks ( Keerweder ) 40 year old vines on a 3 wire trellis on neighbouring cool, high altitude, SW slope. Deep red Hutton soil with good moisture retention. Unirrigated. Yield 3 tons/ha.

2 blocks ( Post House ) 26 & 28 year old vines on a 7 wire trellis with moveable foliage wires. Lower slopes of the Helderberg, 8 km from the cooling influence of the sea. Gravelly Hutton and Escourt soil. Yield 4 tons/ha. Lightly irrigated at veraison.

1 block ( Bredell ) 28 year old bush vines.  Foothills of the Helderberg 4km from False Bay. Sandy, gravelly Escourt soil.  Lightly irrigated at veraison. Yield 7 tons/ha.


about the harvest: Winter 2011 was colder than usual, but with average rainfall resulting in excellent, even bud-break. We had good growth in spring, but poor weather (cold and rain) over the flowering period resulting in uneven flowering and berry set.

We paid extra attention to green harvesting to help make up for this. Disease pressure was managed with well-timed sprays and open, small canopies. January was exceptionally hot, which really jolted the vines into ripeness. The ripening period of February and March was much cooler and close to perfect with little rain and no rot.

We started harvesting some Chenin 2/2/12 and continued until 6/3/12 @ 21°B to 23.5°B.

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