Winifred

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

63% Semillon, 25% Chardonnay, 12% Viognier. The primary Semillon component was fermented in 500-litre clay amphorae and 400-litre ceramic pot on a portion of whole berries for 1 week and kept on the skins for another month. The Chardonnay and Viognier were fermented and matured in older oak barrels, and all three components matured for 3 months on the lees before blending and further maturation. The oxidative winemaking style produces a wine that is initially shy and reserved on the nose, but full-bodied, textured and intriguingly flavourful.

The winter season started earlier than usual, and March was a very wet month. Veraison started early but continued for a long time. Harvest was also early - 11 days earlier than the previous year - and stopped fourteen days earlier than in 2022. The temperatures were moderate with few heat waves. The bunches and berries were much smaller and compact this year. The Viognier, Semillon & Chardonnay vineyards are planted in well-drained blue shale at 180 to 280 metres above sea level on the Western slope of the Tygerberg, 7 kilometres from, and in sight of, the Atlantic Ocean. Employing the VSP trellis system, a typical harvest produces 2 to 6 tons per hectare.