Seasonal Conditions

Good winter rains accumulated an ample reservoir of water, setting the vines up with the best possible start to the budding process. A relatively cold winter pressured the vines into dormancy creating a spirited revival in spring, and a very hot summer leading up to the harvest stressed the vines into producing smaller, more intense berries. As old vines tend to ripen later, extending hanging time on the vines, canopy management kept more leaves on the vine to protect the grapes from sunburn. Moderate breezes mitigated the sometimes extreme summer heat. 

Tasting Notes

A lightly wooded wine that exhibits captivating complexity. Pineapple, citrus and apricots initially evident, followed by layers of stone fruit, pear, lime and white flowers. It has a rich palate with creamy, oaky undertones and lasting citrus, lemon and lime flavours.

Viticulture

The Certified Heritage Vineyard that produces our Chenin Blanc grapes was planted in 1974. It is a dryland, trellised and low yielding vineyard that produces around 2 tonnes of exceptional fruit  per hectare. The north west facing vineyard has ancient decomposed granite soil, that adds to the minerality in the wine.

Viniculture

Hand harvested from a single vineyard, in the early morning to obtain the best quality fruit possible, the grapes were chilled to 5°C to prevent oxidation prior to gentle whole bunch pressing. The chilled juice was settled for 48 hours with racking to different fermentation vessels. 30% of the wine was fermented in 500 litre French oak barrels and the remainder was fermented separately in stainless steel tanks. A different yeast was added to this wine, creating complexity in the final blend. The wine was aged separately for 11 months and then blended and bottled in January 2018.

Strictly limited production of 4500 bottles.

Serving Suggestions

A wonderful accompaniment to fish and seafood especially calamari, lobster, mussels & lemon butter prawns. Excellent with poultry, especially roast duck, and pairs particularly well with game birds but has sufficient structure to compliment lamb and pork. Ideal with soft, white cheese.