Reserve Chenin Blanc

It pairs well with rich dishes like grilled fish, poultry with creamy sauces, and spicy Asian cuisine, making it a versatile food-friendly wine​.

The vineyards are located in low-yielding, well-drained shale/schist soils in Tulbagh. The southeast-facing vines benefit from optimal sun exposure, which allows for slow, even ripening. The yield is kept low at 4.6 tons per hectare, emphasizing quality over quantity​.

After a gentle pressing, 40% of the wine is fermented in new French oak barrels, while 60% undergoes fermentation in second and third-fill barrels. The wine is matured for 12 months before blending. This combination of barrel-aging adds layers of complexity without overwhelming the fresh fruit​.

Rijk’s is situated 120km North-East of Cape Town and 80km East of the Atlantic ocean in a Mediterranean climate. Our valley is surrounded by the Obiqua, Winterhoek, and Witzenberg mountains which reach heights of up to 1 995m. Lover of good food and collector of good wines, Neville Dorrington had been working in Cape Town for more than 20 years. In 1996 Neville and his family decided to move to the countryside and grow and produce their own wine. We fell in love with the Tulbagh valley and came across 137 hectares of virgin soils that were never cultivated. The slopes faced north, south, east, and west and the analysis of the vertical shale soils revealed the potential for low-yielding, high-quality grapes. Today Rijk’s only focuses on producing Chenin Blanc and Pinotage. Rijk’s has been named in honour of the governor Rijk Tulbagh who governed the Cape from 1751-1771.