Reserve White

Shellfish, Spicy food, Lean fish, Mild and soft cheese

The 2023 harvest followed a dry winter of 2022 and unseasonably warm conditions in October & November. Budbreak was slightly early and very even despite the weather. Rain in early December brought some relief from the warm and dry conditions and marked the start of a relatively cool and rainy ripening season. Canopy growth was somewhat less vigorous than the previous season making our summer canopy management a little easier. The intermittent rain (including a very unseasonable 40mm downpour on 5 March) and cooler weather throughout February and March made disease management our greatest challenge. It also slowed ripening which is positive for achieving good tannin and colour development in red wines. We were very happy with the quality of white wines yielded by Harvest 2023. The wines show bright and expressive tropical and white stone fruit flavour with a zesty acidity.

This blend of 60% Chenin Blanc ,30% Verdelho ,6% Chardonnay and 4 % Viognier was small batch fermented in 27% first-fill French Oak barriques for 6 months.

Each component underwent separate fermentation and ageing in French oak barriques meticulously chosen to accentuate the distinctive qualities of each grape variety. The barrels utilised varied in size from 225L to 500L. Through a rigorous selection process, the finest barrels were identified to craft the exceptional Reserve White blend. Numerous trial blends were created to showcase the unique terroir of Cavalli Estate. The selected blend beautifully captures the essence of the estate's hidden treasure: the second oldest Verdelho block in South Africa, originally planted in 2004.

Cavalli Wine Estate is located on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, South Africa in an area known as the Helderberg also known as the Golden Triangle due to the exceptional quality of wines that are produced in this region. With 27ha of vineyards planted in rich koffieklip soils and cooled by late afternoon breezes from False Bay our vineyards benefit tremendously by the unique terroir in which the vines are planted. The utmost care is taken to ensure that the vineyards are meticulously farmed for the production of only the most premium quality fruit. Cavalli Wine Estate is home to some of the best Chenin blanc and Cabernet sauvignon in the region, both of which have been at the helm of producing award winning wines. We also focus on Chardonnay, Viognier, Verdelho, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Shiraz.