The Dryland Collection Fortitude Fortified Chenin Blanc

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

Grapes were harvested by hand, destemmed and crushed. Skin contact was given for two days with regular pump overs to ensure that all the flavours were extracted from the skins. The juice was clarified and then fortified with wine spirits.

The 2021 vintage was later than normal with grapes picked two weeks later. The growing season was cool with good conditions and low disease risk. The harvest period was also cooler than normal with no heat waves and some rainy days during harvest. The vintage was good in terms of quality and the wines show good ageing potential. The grapes were harvested from the Agter-Paarl region from a bush vine vineyard. The soil is mostly decomposed granite, which is well suited for vineyards in dryland conditions. No irrigation was given in the vineyard and they rely only on natural rainfall. The berries are small due to the lack of water and give concentrated ripe fruit flavours.

The fortified wine was then transferred to barrels and matured in 500-litre French oak second-fill barrels for 12 months.