Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc

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

Old vine wines should let the vineyard speak, not the winemaker. This wine undergoes careful vinification to preserve fruit purity and terroir expression. Harvested in two phases, the first batch (30%) ferments naturally in 3rd-fill French oak for freshness, while the later, riper portion ferments in 1st (35%) and 2nd-fill (35%) French oak to enhance depth. Post-fermentation, the wine rests on lees with monthly bâtonnage before blending and bottling after 10 months.

What is about an old vine that makes it so compelling? Its gnarled appearance only hints at some of the mystery. The story of many seasons weathered can only be truly appreciated in the multi-dimensional wines these resilient plants produce. The Bellingham Old Vine Chenin Blanc is one of the very first old vine focused wines in South Africa. This vineyard, planted in 1983 in the cool climate of Cape Town, is a rare and sought-after site in the area. The unirrigated single vineyard is planted on a combination of weathered shale and granite soils, on a low-yield, east-facing slope and cooled by sea breezes from Table Bay and False Bay.