Chenin Blanc

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The grapes were hand-picked in five different stages to achieve balance in the final wine. The fruit was gently whole bunch pressed before fermentation took place with natural yeasts in 500 litre French oak barrels (25% new), with about 80% of the volume completing malolactic fermentation.

The 2018 vintage can be characterized by a cooler spring, with a sudden change to a very warm and dry ripening period. Berries were much smaller, due to the drought, but this promoted good flavor and intensity in the resultant wine. This along with cooler evenings during harvest time relieved some pressure on vines and bode well for quality. The dry weather did have its advantages as vines remained healthy (w.r.t pests and diseases). Fruit harvesting was earlier in 2018, with focus on bringing fruit into the winery with lower sugar levels and pH’s. This contributed to a small yield, but the grapes were healthy overall, and the analyses were good despite past neglect of these vineyards. There was a slow ripening process which was caused by the cold nights, but the harvest went smoothly with minimal interruptions caused by rain or heat waves and the grapes were harvested at optimal ripeness.

The wine was aged on lees for ten months in barrel before being bottled with a light filtration and left to mature in bottle for a further nine months before release.