Breedekloof Chenin Blanc Collection

The grapes selected for this style of Chenin Blanc are handpicked in the early morning hours from a single vineyard in the heart of the Breedekloof valley. After crushing and de-stemming, the juice is left on the skins for 8 hours. It is then settled followed by the clear juice being racked into new oak barrels and amphora vessels for fermentation.

Grapes are from alluvial soil with high loam content and moderate Mediterranean climate. The 35 year-old vineyard is 4ha in area and yields 12 ton grapes per hectare. Based on soil moisture levels, as measured by neutron hydrometers in the vineyards, controlled irrigation is applied. Careful canopy management ensures that grapes and leaves are exposed to direct sunlight. This leads to quality grapes filled with intense fruit flavours.

The juice is left on the thick lees for 6 months with further maturation on the fine lees for 2 months. Batonage plays a crucial role in the complexity of this wine.

The juice underwent a slow fermentation at cool temperatures using wild yeast.

Wine produced from vines rooted in the Swartland. The grapes were picked at optimal ripeness, cooled down over night and pneumatically pressed early in the morning.

Partly matured in stainless steel tank and old French oak barrels for six months on the lees before blending, stabilizing and bottling.

The grapes were harvested by hand into bins the morning of 13 February 2020 and the second harvest a week later 21 February 2020. The first batch were at 22.5˚B and the second batch at 24˚B, we do the two components to have more complexity and depth in the wine. The grapes were cooled before lightly crushed and pressed. The free-run juice was allowed to settle overnight at 8°Celsius using pectolytic enzymes. The juice is covered with carbon dioxide blankets to prevent oxidation. The wine is then inoculated, and fermentation took place in 225 litre Burgundy barrels at a constant temperature of 18 - 20°C for approximately 15 days.

Sandstone soils with a lot of stone fragments. Moderate Mediterranean climate. 1.6 Ha block with yields at 14 ton per hectare. Age of vines are 35 years in 2020. From our first vintage in 2015 this was made from the same vineyard and only this vineyard but only from 2020 it’s registered as a single vineyard and will be on the label.

After fermentation it is bâtonnage daily for 3 months and matured in barrel for 9 months on its lees. The time on the lees give a creamy complexity and added mouthfeel to the wine. 20% new oak and the rest second fill.

Chenin Blanc grapes were handpicked at 23° Balling. Whole clusters in 500-litre amphoras filled with clean Chenin Blanc free-run juice. Natural fermentation. Component was whole-bunch pressed and the free-run juice was fermented in 300-litre Hungarian oak barrels (new- and third-fill barrels). Minimal cellar interference. No batonage and no malolactic fermentation.

Five months in amphoras and barrels. Bottle aged for 5 months. Build to age.

Our Chenin grapes are hand-picked early mornings. A portion of the grapes are crushed and destemmed, while the other portion is left whole bunch. All together, the grapes are softly pressed in a basket press. The juice is then filled into 5-year-old six filled barrels for natural fermentation.

The wine is matured for six months on the gross lees in the barrel, and then further barrel maturation for a total of 8 months for natural settling.

The process began in the vineyard with hand-selection of optimum quality grapes. The juice was allowed contact with the skins for two hours to draw complexity.

After fermentation at 130C-160C degrees the wine was kept on its fine lees for one month before aging commenced in French oak barrels of various sizes (225L, 300L and 500L).