Riverside Chenin Blanc

Enjoy with Salmon and seafood risotto.

The 2019 vintage was quite a challenging one at Keermont. The yields were very small, but the wines have turned out beautifully. Coming off the back of four very dry years in the Cape, the vines were taking a bit of strain. Winter rainfall was just slightly below average. Spring started off cool and wet so the disease pressure was quite high. From that point onwards, the vintage conditions were good with some Summer rains and warm temperatures without any major heat spikes. Harvest started on 30 January, but was interrupted by 40mm of rain the following week. This pepped the vines up for the final ripening and grapes were harvested in a very healthy condition.

This wine was fermented and then spent a further 11 months maturing on the lees in seasoned French oak barrels (225L and 500L).

All grapes used in producing this wine are sourced from the Riverside vineyard on Keermont. Small parcels of grapes are selected according to optimal ripeness and harvested by hand. Fermentation is carried out by yeast which occurs naturally on the grape skins.

Agriculture in the Upper Blaauwklippen Valley can be traced back to 1694. In 2003 the Wraith family moved to the Western Cape from Gauteng and bought two adjacent farms. These two farms are now farmed as one Estate known as Keermont Vineyards. 2005 saw the start of a major vineyard planting programme on lands that had been fallow for a number of years. We planted 21Ha over seven years to add to an existing 8Ha of older vineyards. Our official maiden vintage was 2007 and in 2010 a spring water bottling plant on Fleurfontein was converted into a fully functional winery complete with offices tasting room processing facilities and barrel rooms.