Angus Paul Wines Barbary Fictions Chenin Blanc 2022
Vineyards
One sight: Bottelary; one grape: Chenin blanc. Hailing from a 1972 planted, ragged, hilltop vineyard in the Bottelary ward around 300 meters above sea level, on Mooiplaas farm. This vineyard faces northwest, but luckily cool winds from Table Bay blow up through the valleys, through the fynbos that surrounds this old block and through the vines themselves. This vineyard moves slowly and requires patience in harvest time to capture at its best moment.
Winemaking and Maturation
Grapes are hand picked and cooled overnight. The following morning they are put into the press and pressed as whole bunches. No sulphur, yeast, acid, enzymes or water were added. Very cloudy juice was transferred to neutral oak barrels, with only the heaviest of solids left behind. Fermentation took place over 4 weeks, after which about half of the barrels completed malolactic fermentation. In Autumn wines were sulphured for the first time. Wines were bottled in December after having spent 11 months in barrel with no racking or fining.
Tasting Notes
The nose is rich in lemongrass, cut apple and yellow citrus. It has more of a deeper, heavier rumble than the high pitch of the Chenins that come from the other side of the Bottelary hill formation (those that face False Bay). The palate is crunchy like biting into an apple. Despite this, it is a round wine, with the freshness and breadth tugging each other in equal balanced directions.
Technical Details
Alc: 1 3 . 2 1 %
T.A.: 5 . 7 g/L
R.S.: 1 . 5 g/L
pH: 3 . 3 8
