Winemaker Notes
On the nose, green apples, lime zest, honey and wet stone. An elegant palate with balance, freshness and a delightful texture.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This wine grows at four dryland bush-vine vineyards. These low yields produced concentrated grapes that seem to have imparted faint tannins to the wine during its overnight settling. It’s a deep golden color, with a structure a little larger than the candied-lemon-peel flavors flecked with a grassy chenin edge.
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.
A relatively cool, maritime climate area, Walker Bay includes three important wards: Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. These sites benefit from the cooling ocean winds and are reputed for the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinotage.