Luddite Chenin
Chenin Blanc is a grape close to the Luddites’ heart, so they couldn’t resist making their own. Luddite Chenin 2012 was their first vintage.
The Luddite Chenin is a real ‘push the boat out’ wine. Niels wanted to express the nature of Chenin Blanc in the Bot River area, and batches of free run juice and pressed juice were put in barrels without settling and allowed to ferment naturally. He also did a batch of fermentation on skins with regular punch downs.
Old barrels allowed the natural grape expression to come through, and no sulphur was added to allow the wine to develop its own characteristics without any intervention. The Luddites feel by doing this they have allowed the wine to express exactly the direction it wanted to go.
Vintages
Luddite Chenin 2025
The fruit flavours and ripeness happened at lower sugars than previous years. Normal house style keeping it simple; crush, destalk and allowing it to naturally ferment in open fermenters.
Once fermentation starts, we punch down twice a day to keep the ferment homogenous. After fermentation, we seal the bins and allow post maceration for as long as we can sleep comfortably without wondering what’s happening inside the bins. This vintage took 20 days on skins before our nerves broke. We pressed directly to barrel with as much sediment as possible. This allows the wine to fill out and add texture with our regular batonnaging.
This year is showing more savoury herbaceous notes. This wine remains a multi-dimensional experience, continually revealing different nuances and flavours in both the glass and the bottle over time. The palate is bold and weighty, even though the wine’s alcohol is below 12% like previous years. Good news is that we have a little bit more of our Chenin to offer. Our Chenin still remains a textured and very thought-provoking wine.
Grapes were sourced from Luddite vineyard sites:
House Block harvested on 3rd February 2025 Dog Block harvested on 7th February 2025
Average analysis of fruit at harvest 19.36° Balling, TA – 8.7 g/l, pH – 3.28
Tasting Notes: Appearance: Pale straw in colour. Nose: Yellow plum, honey blossom with apples and pears. Palate: Gooseberry on entry, slightly salty mineral and opens up to honeyed tones. Lean, lime textured citrus finish.
Analysis of the wine Alcohol: 10.7% pH: 3.25 TA: 5.8 g/l RS: 1.0 g/l
3 300 bottles of this vintage were produced. Tasting notes dated 5th Jun 2026.
Luddite Chenin 2024
This year we experimented with a bit more time on skins. This has given the midpalate a bit more texture and palate weight even though the alcohol has remained low. Normal house style keeping it simple; crush, destalk and allowing it to naturally ferment in open fermenters.
Once fermentation starts, we punch down twice a day to keep the ferment homogenous. After fermentation, we seal the bins and allow post maceration for as long as we can sleep comfortably without wondering what’s happening inside the bins. This vintage took 24 days on skins before our nerves broke, but we left 2 bins for 30 days extended skin contact to see if this would give us more texture. We pressed directly to barrel with as much sediment as possible. This allows the wine to fill out and add texture with our regular batonnaging.
This year is showing more fruit; peach, pears and melons. This wine remains a multi-dimensional experience, continually revealing different nuances and flavours. The palate is bold and weighty, even though the wine’s alcohol is below 12% like previous years. Good news is that we have a little bit more of our Chenin to offer. Our Chenin still remains a very thought-provoking wine.
Grapes were sourced from Luddite vineyard sites:
House Block harvested on 26th January 2024 Dog Block harvested on 1st February 2024
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
19.8° Balling, TA – 6.4 g/l, pH – 3.32
Tasting Notes as at 27th February 2025:
Appearance: Pale straw in colour.
Nose: Golden sultanas, honey and white pear.
Palate: Savoury, salty entry with a broad pithy mid-palate. Gooseberry and lime dominates the long, dry finish ever changing as it reacts with the oxygen in your glass. Very thought-provoking.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 11.39% pH: 3.45 TA: 5.9 g/l RS: 2.2 g/l
2 540 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2023
This year we experimented with a bit more time on skins. This has given the midpalate a bit more texture and palate weight even though the alcohol has remained low. Normal house style keeping it simple; crush, destalk and allowing it to naturally ferment in open fermenters.
Once fermentation starts, we punch down twice a day to keep the ferment homogenous. After fermentation, we seal the bins and allow post maceration for as long as we can sleep comfortably without wondering what’s happening inside the bins. This vintage took 25 days on skins before our nerves broke. We press directly to barrel with as much sediment as possible. This allows the wine to fill out and add texture with our regular batonnaging.
This year is a bit quirkier than most. Darker colour due to the extended skin contact and just a hint of flor to add more to an already multidimensional wine. The palate is bold and weighty, even though the wine’s alcohol is below 12% like previous years. Unfortunately, 2023 was rather dry and so we have less wine this year. Our Chenin still remains a very thought-provoking wine.
Grapes were sourced from Luddite vineyard sites:
House Block harvested on 26th January 2023
Dog Block harvested on 31st January 2023
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
20.0° Balling, TA – 6.2 g/l, pH – 3.45
Tasting Notes as at 22nd February 2024:
Appearance: Rich, golden yellow in colour due to extended skin contact.
Nose: Green melons, spice, savoury white fruit with a hint of honey.
Palate: Hint of savoury flor on entry with peaches, spice and telltale Luddite Chenin saltiness on the finish. Good acidity balances the palate from start to finish. Very thought-provoking.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 11.8% pH: 3.6 TA: 5.7 g/l RS: 1.4 g/l
1 570 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2022
Much excitement as we are almost back to normal volumes. This has come about with the new House Block in full production and luckily giving us the quality we need for our Chenin Blanc. Normal house style keeping it simple; crush, destalk and allowing it to naturally ferment in open fermenters.
Once fermentation starts, we punch down twice a day to keep the ferment homogenous. After fermentation, we seal the bins and allow post maceration for as long as we can sleep comfortably without wondering what’s happening inside the bins. This vintage took 22 days on skins before our nerves broke. We press directly to barrel with as much sediment as possible. This allows the wine to fill out and add texture with our regular batonnaging.
The Chenin is an outlet for the geek in Niels, allowing him to remember himself as a stamp collector. Precise, patient but allowing the wine to speak for itself. The 2022 vintage is showing unbelievable balance and elegance, yet still showing lovely palate-weight even though the wine’s alcohol is below 12%. Our Chenin still remains a very thought-provoking wine.
Grapes were sourced from Luddite vineyard sites:
House Block harvested on 8th February 2022
Dog Block harvested on 9th February 2022
Dog Block harvested on 23rd February 2022 (late pick)
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
20.5° Balling, TA – 6.8 g/l, pH – 3.3
Tasting Notes as at 1st March 2023:
Appearance: Rich, pale straw in colour.
Nose: Citrus blossom, spice and fromage. After a while, nose opens up to give hints of white fruit and the slightest touch of honey wax.
Palate: Fresh lean entry. Very dry mid-palate with grapefruit pithiness, green plums and white fruit. The finish is long, lean and salty.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 11.82% pH: 3.49 TA: 5.5 g/l RS: 1.2 g/l
2 500 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2021
Our 10th vintage . . . hooray!! We continue to polish our established house style that works for our Chenin Blanc. Keeping it simple, crush, destalk and allowing it to naturally ferment in open fermenters. This vintage saw the added excitement of our new Chenin block bearing its first real crop and then the pressure to see if it would be good enough to make it into the final blend.
Once fermentation starts, we punch down twice a day to keep the ferment homogenous. After fermentation, we seal the bins and allow post maceration for as long as we can sleep comfortably without wondering what’s happening inside the bins. This vintage took 21 days on skins before our nerves broke.
We press directly to barrel with as much sediment as possible. This allows the wine to fill out and add texture with our regular batonnaging.
The Chenin is an outlet for the geek in Niels, allowing him to remember himself as a stamp collector. Precise, patient but allowing the wine to speak for itself. The 2021 vintage is leaner than most years due to a higher natural acidity which seems to be coming from the new “Dog Block” portion and this balances out the slightly riper fruit than previous vintages. This wine still remains a very thought-provoking wine.
Grapes were sourced from:
- Luddite Farm House Block harvested on 9th February 2021
- Luddite Farm Dog Block harvested on 9th February 2021
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
21.0° Balling, TA – 7.5 g/l, pH – 3.3
Tasting Notes
- Appearance: Rich, pale straw in colour.
- Nose: Spicy, lime blossom and greengage. After a while, nose opens up to give hints of white fruit and the slightest touch of flor.
- Palate: Fresh lean entry. Great palate weight and mouth feel with white fruit and dry peaches. The finish is long, lean and salty. minerality.
Analysis of the wine
- Alcohol: 12.35%
- pH: 3.4
- TA: 6.3 g/l
- RS: 2.9 g/l
1 900 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Tastings notes dated 7th March 2022.
Luddite Chenin 2020
Our 9th vintage and we continue to polish our established house style that works for our Chenin Blanc. Keeping it simple, crush, destalk and allowing it to naturally ferment in open fermenters.
Once fermentation starts, we punch down twice a day to keep the ferment homogenous. After fermentation, we seal the bins and allow post maceration for as long as we can sleep comfortably without wondering what’s happening inside the bins. This vintage took 22 days on skins before our nerves broke.
We press directly to barrel with as much sediment as possible. This allows the wine to fill out and add texture with our regular batonnaging.
The Chenin is an outlet for the geek in Niels, allowing him to remember himself as a stamp collector. Precise, patient but allowing the wine to speak for itself. The 2020 vintage is not everybody’s cup of tea, being only 11.5% alcohol and 1g of residual sugar which, in itself, makes it a very thought provoking wine.
The 2020 vintage is also the first time we harvested from our “Dog Block”. This adds a little more minerality to the final blend.
Grapes were sourced from:
Luddite Farm House Block harvested on 20th January 2020
Luddite Farm Dog Block harvested on 27th January 2020
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
18.8° Balling, TA – 8.5 g/l, pH – 3.3
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Rich, golden straw hue.
Nose: Spicy, greengage, savoury and nutty. After a while nose opens up to give hints of white fruit; pears and peaches.
Palate: Grippy textured entry. Amazing palate weight and mouth feel for the low alcohol. Finishes with white fruit, spice and a salty minerality.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 11.5%
pH: 3.31
TA: 5.98 g/l
RS: 1.0 g/l
1 320 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Tastings notes dated 24th March 2021.
Luddite Chenin 2019
Our 8th vintage and we have established a house style that works for our grapes. Keeping it simple, crush, destalk and allowing it to naturally ferment in open fermenters.
Once fermentation starts, we punch down twice a day to keep the ferment homogenous. After fermentation, we seal the bins and allow post maceration for as long as our nerves can hold out, usually around 20 days.
We press directly to barrel with as much sediment as possible. This allows the wine to fill out and adds texture.
The Chenin is an outlet for the geek in Niels, allowing him to remember himself as a stamp collector. Precise, patient but allowing the wine to speak for itself.
Grapes were sourced from:
Luddite Farm House Block harvested on 25th January 2019
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
21° Balling, TA – 7.78 g/l, pH – 3.4
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Rich, golden straw hue.
Nose: Spicy, touch of roasted almonds and Star Anise. After a while nose opens up to give hints of white peach.
Palate: Clean refreshing entry. Saline on entry, nutty on fore-palate. Pears, spice, cinnamon on mid-palate. Long lean after taste with a hint of peachy sweetness right at the finish.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 12.65%
pH: 3.34
TA: 6.53 g/l
RS: 1.44 g/l
1 130 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2018
The Luddite Chenin is a real “push the boat out” wine. 2018 continued the trend of a dry, hot lead-up to the vintage so crops were down again and our picking date seems to move earlier and earlier each year. We still pick earlier than most producers so that we can retain our natural acidity and freshness. The wine was fermented naturally on skins with morning and evening punch downs. After fermentation, the grapes were pressed and racked with lees and sediment into barrel. 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 only time we interfered with this wine was to add sulphur to protect it during the bottling process. We feel that this sulphur binds out within a couple of months, leaving, what we feel, is an absolutely natural wine. This is the lowest alcohol Chenin we have ever made, but it still shows lovely texture and fullness on the palate. A very cerebral wine.
Grapes were sourced from:
Luddite Farm House Block harvested on 1st February 2018
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
20.6° Balling, TA – 7.78 g/l, pH – 3.4
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Rich, golden straw hue.
Nose: Spicy, touch of freshly buttered toast and Star Anise. After a while nose opens up to give hints of peach.
Palate: Clean refreshing entry. Green plums, melon on fore-palate. Pears, spice, cinnamon on mid-palate. Long lean after taste with a hint of peachy sweetness right at the finish.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 11.34%
pH: 3.34
TA: 6.7 g/l
RS: 1.1 g/l
1 000 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2016
The Luddite Chenin is a real “push the boat out” wine. 2016 was very dry and warm and therefore our crops were down due to dry vineyard farming. As a result, our picking date was a week earlier than 2015. We still pick earlier than most producers so that we can retain our natural acidity and freshness. The wine was fermented naturally on skins with morning and evening punch downs. After fermentation, the grapes were pressed and racked with lees and sediment into barrel. 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 only time we interfered with this wine was to add sulphur to protect it during the bottling process. We feel that this sulphur binds out within a couple of months, leaving, what we feel, is an absolutely natural wine.
Grapes were sourced from:
Luddite Farm House Block harvested on 10th February 2016
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
21.8° Balling, TA – 6.7 g/l, pH – 3.3
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Rich, golden straw hue.
**Nose: ** Nutty hints of crème brulé, spice, green gage plums and Star Anise.
Palate: Clean refreshing entry. Pears and green melon on fore palate. Long lean after taste with a spicy refreshing citrus length.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 12.9%
pH: 3.47
TA: 5.9 g/l
RS: 1.6 g/l
1 400 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2015
The Luddite Chenin is a real “push the boat out” wine. 2015 was a great year for white wines and we picked earlier than normal to allow for great, natural acidity and lower alcohol. By picking early, we could really flesh out the mid pallet with skin contact and regular batonnage. We really want to express the nature of Chenin Blanc in the Bot River area, so both batches were fermented naturally on skins with a morning and evening punch down. After fermentation, the grapes were pressed and racked with lees and sediment to barrel. 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. After blending the two batches of wine, we felt that the wine was too lean and needed a splash of Viognier just to flesh out the mid pallet and nose.
The only time we interfered with this wine was to add sulphur to protect it during the bottling process. We feel that this sulphur binds out within a couple of months, leaving, what we feel is, an absolutely natural wine.
Grapes were sourced from:
Luddite Farm harvested on 16th February 2015
Avondzon Farm, Van Der Stel Pass 40 – 60 year old vines harvested on 21st February 2015
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
19.5° Balling, TA – 6.9 g/l, pH – 3.2
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Rich, golden straw hue.
**Nose: ** Limes, green melon, pear drops, cinnamon and spice.
Palate: Clean refreshing entry. Citrus, peach and melon flavours balance the rich mid pallet. The wine finishes with a lingering spice and grapefruit freshness.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 12.15%
pH: 3.36
TA: 6.3 g/l
RS: 1.6 g/l
2 900 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2014
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 both batches were fermented naturally on skins with a morning and evening punch down. After fermentation, the grapes were pressed and racked with lees and sediment to barrel. I feel by doing this we have allowed the wine to express richer flavour and a fuller structure. We used old ba:rels 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.
After maturation, the wine was racked and blended together, given a rough filtration and the sulphur was adjusted to protect it through the bottling process, Due to the absolute natural winemaking, the wine shows reductive notes on the nose. These reductive flavours will however dissipate over time.
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Rich, pale straw glow.
Nose
It starts off a bit reductive i.e. flinty struck match and wet dog, then opens up to reveal beautiful peach and apricot aromatics with hints of honey, cinnamon 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 two vineyard sites
Luddite Farm harvested on 18th February 2014.
Van Der Stel Pass, Avontzon Farm 40 – 60 year old vines harvested on 18th March 2014.
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
21.25° Balling, TA – 6.7 g/l,pH – 3.3
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 12.91%
pH:3.49
TA:5.7 g/l
RS: 2.1 g/l
3850 bottles of this vintage were produced.
Luddite Chenin 2013
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.
Luddite Chenin 2012
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.