Dekker’s Valley Seraphic 2018

On the farm Dekkersvlei in Klein Drakenstein near Paarl at 254 meters above sea level.

Vine Age: From 9 to 34 years
Soil: Decomposed Granite
Average Yield: 5 tons per hectare (35hl/ha).
Irrigation: Most of the vines are trellised with drip irrigation but the Chenin Blanc is 34 year-old bush vines with no irrigation.

Yeast (Zymaflore® VL3) was inoculated after 48 hours of juice settlement of the first cultivar, Chardonnay, and then the other varieties were added sequentially upon intake and co-fermented for 21 days at an average temperature of 14˚C until dry.

An addition of tartaric acid was made as the juice was racked off the settlement lees to correct pH pre fermentation. The wine was unwooded, made in a reductive style, remaining in tank until the bottling date. Protein stabilisation of the wine was carried out using bentonite, and tartrate stabilisation was undertaken prior to bottling. The wine was fined in tank using gelatine and careful racking. No filtering of the wine was undertaken except at bottling when a split 70/110 AF sterile filtration was used.