The colour has an attractive pale golden hue with a slight green tinge. On the nose you will find a clean, ripe fruit melody, rich in guava, pineapple and melon, layered with hints of honeysuckle and subtle vanilla pod. A harmonious balance between fruit and subtle oaking. The oak-imparted mouth-feel that is felt rather than tasted, forms complex, soft flavours with sufficient body to enhance even spicy full flavoured meals. The finish is long, concentrated and persistent.
This wine will enhance even spicy full flavoured meals. Thefinish is long, concentrated and persistent.
variety : Chenin Blanc [ 100 Chenin Blanc ]
winemaker : Francois Joubert
wine of origin : Polkadraai Hills
analysis : alc : 13.95 % vol rs : 1.9 g/l pH : 3.46 ta : 6.1 g/l
type : Rose style : Dry body : Full taste : Fruity wooded
pack : Bottle size : 750ml closure : Screwcap
in the vineyard : The two blocks of Chenin Blanc at Asara, - 2.27ha planted in 2005 at 50m above sea level, and 1.9ha planted in 1995, at 200m above sea level on a steep South-west facing slope – provide the contrasting characteristics needed to make a great wine. The younger, higher yielding block imparts great acidity and vibrancy of fruit, whereas the older block, with a lower yield, proves that age does matter: it delivers mouthfeel, minerality and depth.Being just over 15 km from False Bay the influence of the cooling sea breeze effect means longer ripening and hanging time.
The vines age means that they have attuned themselves to the site, and have developed complex root systems that are capable of extracting nutrients from the relatively poor granitic soils.Although yields are fairly high, berry size was relatively small and bunches were quite loose, contributing to the concentration and intensity of the pallet.Viticulture is aimed at achieving full phenolic ripeness without sacrificing freshness and fruit purity, and the grapes hung on the vines for somewhat longer than usual.
in the cellar : Only the free run juice was selected to go to 11 x 225l French barrels, were it underwent a spontaneous wild ferment. Fermentation took a lot longer than the usual 2-3 weeks and finished 6 weeks later, but with the long ferment came longer palate weight and increased mouthfeel.The lees was stirred twice weekly for the first month, thereafter weekly, until the end of July. After four months on primary lees it was racked then returned to barrel to age on the finer lees, until bottling. The wine did not undergo malolactic fermentation.