Welmoed Chenin Blanc Reserve 2000

Intensely fruity, this succulent wine tastes of melons and clean, fresh citrus fruits with nuances of butterscotch and vanillin wood spice. Beautifully balanced acidity and alcohol. This wine can be served as aperitif or enjoyed every day at any occasion. Also exiting with spicy Thai style salads.


variety : Chenin Blanc [ Chenin Blanc ]
winery : Welmoed Winery
winemaker : Mike Graham
wine of origin : Coastal
analysis : alc : 13.94 % vol  rs : 3.41 g/l  pH : 3.38  ta : 5.4 g/l  
pack : Bottle  

ageing : This wine is ready to drink now or can be left for further development of character and flavours for the next 3 years.

in the vineyard : It was an unusual year with a long cool ripening period followed by a early February heat wave which meant vines struggled and grapes needed to hang out there longer to get properly ripe. The Chenin benefited from early morning and night harvesting and the wine is now seeing the benefits of more judicious handling.

Grapes harvested from vines ageing from 9-25 years, where most of the grapes come from the older vines. This vineyard location on the southern slopes facing the coast, which provides a fresh cool sea breeze, seems tailor-made for flavourful Chenin Blanc. The fruit grows in the Coastal area which yields wines with an intensity of flavour and crispness not found in some of the more inland regions.
Following the sunny and dry weather at the final ripening stage the grapes were harvested at 22.8°B in February. A combination of trellised and bush vines are used, all of which are grown on a high southern (cooler) slope, facing the Atlantic Ocean. Soils consist of mainly deeper weathered granite. A choice of rootstocks R99 and 101-14 Mgt are used, depending on the potential of the particular soil. The average yields of these vines differ between 5-10 tonnes per hectare. This interaction of vine, site, soil, marine climate and cultivation (terroir) yields complexed fruit of outstanding quality.

in the cellar : These grapes come from bush vines in the well-known Helderberg area and are harvested at optimum ripeness (23°B). 33% of the wine is fermented in first fill 300 litre barrels (French and American oak) and the balance in stainless steel tanks. It spent 5 months on the lees. Malolactic fermentation was induced.

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Chenin Blanc
Chenin Blanc