The Luddite Chenin is a real “push the boat out” wine. We really wanted to express the nature of Chenin Blanc in the Bot River area so batches of free run juice and pressed juice were put in barrel without settling and allowed to ferment naturally. We also did a batch of fermentation on skins with regular punch downs. I feel by doing this we have allowed the wine to express exactly the direction it wanted to go. We used old barrels to allow the natural grape expression to come through. The wine was left on lees for 12 months with regular batonnage – no sulphur was added to allow the wine to develop its own characteristics without any intervention. All the batches were blended and then bottled and we are very excited with the result.
The wine remained in barrels for 12 months after which the wine was lightly filtered and sulphur corrected before bottling.
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Rich, pale straw glow.
Nose
Peachy apricot with hints of honey and spice come to the fore. Can tend to be reductive on certain days.
Palate
Rich, mouth filling entry with yellow peach, melons, raisins and spice. Good fruit sweetness balanced by clean, citrus tones create a beautifully balanced wine with a refreshing finish.
Grapes were sourced from two vineyard sites
Bot River, Wildekrans 30 year old vines harvested on 7th March 2012.
Van Der Stel Pass, Avontzon Farm 40 - 60 year old vines harvested on 12th April 2012.
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
21.2.° Balling, TA – 6.4 g/l, pH – 3.34
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 12.79%
pH: 3.44
TA: 5.7 g/l
RS: 1.4 g/l
2 400 bottles of this vintage were produced.
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