Cartology

A terrific match with butter-poached lobster, dungeness crab or pan-seared Tasmanian ocean trout.

As a rule, the Cartology parcels are dry farmed bushvines, with a minimum age of 35 years, although most are between 40 and 50 years old. Average yields for these parcels is around 3 tons/Ha or around 20hl/Ha. Cartology 2023 is 94% Chenin blanc and 6% Semillon. The Chenin comes from our parcels in the Skurfberg, Piekenierskloof, Malmesbury, Paardeberg, Bottelary, False Bay and Tygerberg. The Semillon comes from the old La Colline block in Franschhoek.

The grapes were hand sorted and whole bunch pressed. The juice was very lightly settled (we like very cloudy raw juice) with no additions to the raw juice, wild fermentation took place in cements eggs, old foudres, and old barrels (various sizes). Fermentation of various parcels lasted anywhere between 3 weeks and 11 months. The wine was kept on lees for around 12 months, then rested in tank on fine lees without fining for a further five months prior to bottling. Very simple, careful winemaking.

Alheit Vineyards is a family business started in 2010 by husband and wife team Chris and Suzaan Alheit. They met at Stellenbosch University, fell in love, travelled the world together, got married, then travelled some more. Eventually they settled on Hemelrand farm close to Hermanus and started their project. Our goals are simple. We want to make wines with a clear sense of Cape identity. We want to show that the Cape’s vinous heritage is worth celebrating and protecting. We love old vineyards. We love dry farming. We love bushvines. We think that “ordinary grapes” are in fact wonderful. We believe that great things are possible here in the Cape, and that we are now just scratching the surface of what can be done.