Rock of Eye Chenin Blanc 2022
R350,00
The nose begins with elegant honeysuckle aromas followed by ripe melon and nectarine aromas. The nose finishes with the richer honeycomb, orange zest flavours while cream and cardamon lingers in the background. The palate is full of melon and nectarines with an underlying fresh zest. It is satisfyingly refreshing and elegant with a lingering spicy finish. As the maiden vintage of this wine, it is showing well in its youth, and curious to follow how the wine will evolve with maturation.
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In the cellar
The grapes were whole bunch pressed and the juice was settled with no additions. Spontaneous fermentation took place in new 500 litre French oak barrels, older 300 litre barrels and a concrete egg. The concrete egg preserves the fruit and gives tension to the core of the wine. The barrels have added a touch of new oak to prolong the life of the wine and to add further complexity and layers to the Chenin fruit expression. The wine went through spontaneous partial malolactic fermentation while laying on gross less until October when the components were blended. The wine was bottled on the 21st of November 2022.
In the vineyard
Planted in 1980 this single site Chenin blanc lies on the slopes of the Simonsberg, Stellenbosch South Africa. The vineyard is South
west facing and the red soil comprises decomposed granites blended with Table Mountain sandstone. With this wine, I aimed to capture a moment in the life of the vineyard in 2022 and to produce a Chenin that carries ripeness and richness whilst at the same time remaining elegant and refined. The grapes were picked and meticulously sorted on the 1st and the 3rd of March at two different ripeness levels to create differing layers of fruit flavours in the wine.
Cultivar
100% Chenin Blanc
