Winemaker Notes
This vintage really captures the beauty of the Paardeberg: clean air, mountain herbs, tight and pithy, sprung with coiled up energy, spring water purity, an impression finely etched in granite. The nose shows some lovely flinty reduction, green citrus, and thatch. The palate is high energy, high fidelity, pure and racy. The finish is bracing and long.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Chris and Suzaan Alheit seek out grapes from heritage vines in various regions, but they have found something very special in the granite mountains of Paardeberg in the Swartland. The Alheit Vineyards 2023 Swartland Fire By Night shows an initial hint of flinty reduction that hints at citrus, bitter almond, wild sage and crushed stone. The motto "A Note to the Mountain" is expertly conveyed thanks to the wine's freshness and a sense of rigid minerality that gives backbone and bite. Rating: 94+
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James Suckling
A tight, very fresh chenin blanc showing white grapefruit, crushed stones and fennel on the nose. It’s medium-bodied, taut and linear. Very bright and youthful for now. From vines planted between 1972 and 1985 in the Paardeberg.
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Wine Spectator
A sleek, salty white, with a zesty streak of milled white pepper and Meyer lemon peel accenting yellow apple and plum fruit, plus hints of rosemary and thyme. Fresh and focused through the racy finish. Chenin Blanc. Drink now through 2033. 500 cases made, 40 cases imported.
Unquestionably one of the most diverse grape varieties, Chenin Blanc can do it all. It shines in every style from bone dry to unctuously sweet, oaked or unoaked, still or sparkling and even as the base for fortified wines and spirits. Perhaps Chenin Blanc’s greatest asset is its ever-present acidity, maintained even under warm growing conditions. Somm Secret—Landing in South Africa in the mid 1800s, today the country has double the acreage of Chenin Blanc planted compared to France. There is also a new wave of dedicated producers committed to restoring old Chenin vines.
With an important wine renaissance in full swing, impressive red and white bargains abound in South Africa. The country has a particularly long and rich history with winemaking, especially considering its status as part of the “New World.” In the mid-17th century, the lusciously sweet dessert wines of Constantia were highly prized by the European aristocracy. Since then, the South African wine industry has experienced some setbacks due to the phylloxera infestation of the late 1800s and political difficulties throughout the following century.
Today, however, South Africa is increasingly responsible for high-demand, high-quality wines—a blessing to put the country back on the international wine map. Wine production is mainly situated around Cape Town, where the climate is generally warm to hot. But the Benguela Current from Antarctica provides brisk ocean breezes necessary for steady ripening of grapes. Similarly, cooler, high-elevation vineyard sites throughout South Africa offer similar, favorable growing conditions.
South Africa’s wine zones are divided into region, then smaller districts and finally wards, but the country’s wine styles are differentiated more by grape variety than by region. Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, is the country’s “signature” grape, responsible for red-fruit-driven, spicy, earthy reds. When Pinotage is blended with other red varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Pinot Noir (all commonly vinified alone as well), it is often labeled as a “Cape Blend.” Chenin Blanc (locally known as “Steen”) dominates white wine production, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc following close behind.