Alheit Vineyards

Hemelrand Vine Garden

Name: Hemelrand Vine Garden
Brand: Alheit Vineyards
Price: 409 ZAR
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 94 (3 reviews)

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White Blend•Hemel en Aarde Ridge•South Africa

Due to the highly exclusive, and sought-after nature of this product, the vendor has requested to limit quantities per customer to ensure distribution.

1 bottle750 ml•R110 delivery

R409

Case of 6750 ml each•Free delivery (R1,500+)

R2,454

Ships from

Norman Goodfellowsin 5-7 days

This vendor offers free delivery on orders of R1,500 or more

Taste profile

Type

White Blend

On the palate

We had lovely moderate temperatures during the ripening season, punctuated by regular rain. The Chenin blanc in particular starting developing beautiful dry noble rot(botrytis) several days before picking. We always have some noble rot in Hemelrand, but the amount and the quality thereof in 2023 separates this vintage from all previous. The nose shows the classic stone fruit and exotic flavours that we expect from Vine Garden, but then there’s dried orange peel and apricot from the noble berries. The palate is full and quite powerful. The usual high acidity carries the whole wine to a long, tapered finish.

Stonefruit

Orange Peel

Citrus

Honey

Cultivar

36% Chardonnay, 28% Roussanne, 18% Chenin Blanc, 17% Verdelho, 1% Muscat

Region

Hemel en Aarde Ridge

Appellation

Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge

Country

South Africa

Alcohol

13.54%

Residual sugar

2.7 g/L

Cellaring potential

3 to 5 years

Award stickers are applied at the producer's discretion and may not be present on all bottles.

Hemelrand it is situated on the cold and windy Hemel & Aarde Ridge at 360 meters above sea level, on gravelly clay, and Sandstone. The vineyard was planted in 2010 to Chardonnay, Roussanne, Verdelho, Chenin blanc, and Muscat Blanc a petit grain. However, as mentioned the proportions of the different grapes produced significantly varies each vintage. Viticulturally speaking this is a marginal site, the upside of which is slow ripening with high natural acidity.

The grapes were picked early in the morning, sorting in the vineyard, 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 old barrels of various sizes. Fermentation lasted for about two months. The wine was kept on lees for around 12 months, then rested in tank on fine lees without fining for a further six 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.

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