2022 Chenin Blanc

The 2022 Chenin Blanc comes from a blend of eight single vineyards, four of which are bottled as single-vineyard Chenin Blanc. It displays a refined nose with notions of apple and citrus blossom and white peach and wax melon. Medium-bodied and with a fine mineral tension, the palate displays a kiss of phenolic bitterness before revealing layers of complexity. It ends with a refined, fresh, ethereal finish. Enjoy with food.

Delicate, wild aromas of juniper berries, wild herbs, clay, apricots, pomelos and Amalfi lemons. It’s medium-bodied, elegant and vivid, so long and ethereal, with tension and bright, well-integrated acidity throughout. Long and full of life. Drink or hold.

Full bottle 1,339 g. Their main wine and the produce of eight old-vine vineyards, with plantings ranging from 1968 until 1986. The wine is based on granite from the Paardeberg, blended with shale/schist from the east, more clay-rich soils from the north and iron-rich soils from the western parts of the Swartland. Dry-farmed bush vines. They write, '19 pickings, different soils, different aspects, different vineyard ages, farmed by different people and different farmers. This wine illustrates the Swartland, its people and its old vineyards.' The grapes were whole-bunch pressed and naturally fermented and then matured for 11 months in old neutral French oak barrels. Two components were fermented and matured in concrete (9% concrete in total) – one in a square concrete tank and the other in a concrete egg. The wine has a Certified Heritage Vineyards (CHV) seal and forms part of the Old Vine Project (OVP). About 16,000 bottles plus magnums. Pure green-apple and honey nose. Very precise and already accessible, with a floral note, though without the depth of their single-vineyard bottlings. Should develop a bit more complexity with time in bottle. There's certainly no hurry to drink this. (JR)