Albertus Viljoen Chenin Blanc

To make this wine, a variety of grapes were carefully selected for their unique characteristics from our prime, well-established Alvi’s Drift Chenin Blanc vineyards. After whole-bunch pressing, free-run juice was 100% barrel fermented in French oak, with both wild yeast and cultured yeast fermentation applied.

The pinnacle of all Alvi’s Drift Chenin Blanc wines, the grapes for our Albertus Viljoen Chenin Blanc are hand-selected from our established, 25- to 48-year-old Chenin Blanc vineyards in the cool, early morning hours; then whole-bunch pressed to ensure the preservation of natural fruit flavours. Although slightly less abundant than the year before, our 2022 Chenin Blanc harvest produced a vintage that will be remembered for many a decade. Our winter was cold and rainy, with a cooler-than-usual spring that brought even more rain, delaying budburst and flowering. Summer brought heat but also more rain. This cooler season delayed harvest by at least another 14 days. These wonderful, mild weather conditions enabled our Chenin Blanc grapes to, in time, develop superb flavours, making this a truly remarkable vintage that will be remembered for years to come.

After fermentation, the wine was matured for a further 12 months in 100% French oak barrels and kept on lees to improve mouthfeel and complexity with regular bâtonnage applied. After maturation, wine from each barrel was individually tasted before blending.