The Luddite Chenin is a real “push the boat out” wine. We really want 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 24 hour pressing to get more extraction and palate weight. I feel by doing this we have allowed the wine to express richer flavour and a fuller structure. 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. The two 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
It starts off a bit reductive i.e. flinty struck match, then opens up to reveal beautiful peach and apricot aromatics with hints of honey and spice coming to the fore.
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 the following vineyard site
Van Der Stel Pass, Avontzon Farm 40 - 60 year old vines harvested on 15th March 2013.
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
22.5.° Balling, TA – 6.0 g/l, pH – 3.45
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 13.41%
pH: 3.61
TA: 5.1 g/l
RS: 1.2 g/l
3 900 bottles of this vintage were produced.
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