Old Vine Chenin Blanc

Pair this old vine Chenin with rich fishcakes and baby potatoes covered in sour cream and fresh chives from the garden or pork chops with crispy fat next to a wild rocket, apple and walnut salad.

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 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.

Vineyards have been shown to possess unique fingerprints in centuries gone by. Every block of vines expresses distinctive characteristics, and the finest winemakers know that viticulture starts in the soil. In 2010 our winemaker began travelling in search of the purest fruit from first growth appellations across the wine regions of the Western Cape. Every new vintage becomes a quest to find the different components to make up the perfect blend that meets the winemaker’s requirements. The pursuit of excellence began in 2011 when Quest aspired to showcase a premium range of iconic French blends, styles and varieties grown and expressed through South African soils.