Wine: 2008 White Blend
82% Chenin, 6% Clairette Blanche, 6% Viognier, 6% Grenache Blanc
Bottling Date: 18th December 2008
Production: 4000 bottles / 330 cases
Wine of Origin: Swartland
The Swartland is blessed with an abundance of old vine Chenin, and we use this as the backbone of our white blend. We then add several small parcels of Mediterranean varieties for complexity, balance and aromatic lift.
Tasting Note: Lemon-straw in colour, this wine has a nose of crushed rocks, green citrus, cloves and a floral perfume. The palate is full, rich and has a mineral core, with a fresh, clove-like finish. Best served at 10 to 12 C, this wine will show optimally when decanted in the first 3 years after botling.
Accolades: 92/100 Neal Martin (eRobertParker); 17/20 Jancis Robinson; 4.5 Stars - The Platters Guide; 91/100 The Wine Gang (Tim Atkin, Anthony Rose, Joanna Simon, Tom Cannavan & Oli Smith).
Technical Details at Bottling:
Alcohol 13,5%
Residual Sugar 2,4 g/L
Total Acidity 6,1 g/L
Volatile Acidity 0.54
Free S02 32ppm
pH 3.41
Source of Grapes: Grapes for our 2008 white blend come from five vineyards parcels in different parts of the Swartland: One parcel of 28 year-old Chenin blanc planted in the stony Shale and Schist based soils of Riebeek Kasteel Mountain; two parcels of 40+ year-old dry land bushvine Chenin, and Clairette blanche, and a parcel of 7 year-old Grenache blanc, all grown in the decomposed Granite of the Paardeberg mountain; and a parcel of 8 year-old Viognier planted on the rolling, iron-rich soils west of Malmesbury.
Date(s) Harvested: Grapes were harvested between the 2nd and 19th February 2008.
Yields: Between 4 to 6 tons/ha = 24 to 33 HL/ha.
Winemaking: Hand picked grapes are cooled in our cold room, where after the Viognier is destemmed directly to tank, and macerated on the skins for 4 to 5 days before pressing. The Chenin, Clairette and Grenache blanc are pressed whole-bunch, and the juice is allowed to settle overnight. 20ppm SO2 is added, and with all our wines, no other additions are made. The juice is the racked to barrel for fermentation. Fermentation is with indigenous yeasts, and lasts up to 6 weeks. After fermentation, the wine is allowed to go through malolactic fermentation if it wants, and is left without sulphur on it's lees until spring. We will give a small amount of battonage if necessary for mouthfeel. The barrels are racked and blended just before the following vintage and bottled unfiltered.
Maturation: 11 months in used (3rd and 4th fill) French oak barrels.