Zevenwacht Chenin Blanc 2011

A clear and bright wine with hints of lime and gold. The palate is both rich and refreshing and contains elements of honey, nuts and ripe pineapple in combination with grapefruit. The wine is classically dry, yet luxuriously silky with superb viscosity and length.


variety : Chenin Blanc [ 100% Chenin Blanc ]
winemaker : Jacques Viljoen
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 14.0 % vol  rs : 3.8 g/l  pH : 3.26  ta : 6.5 g/l  
type : White  style : Dry  taste : Fruity   wooded
pack : Bottle  closure : Cork  

ageing : Chenin is a wine that develops and deepens both in color and aroma over time and as such awards the patient with extra complexity while offering the impatient oodles of up-front fruit and charm.

in the vineyard : Craggy mountains and their undulating foothills. Granite rich deposits underlying gravelly soil. Tracts of land with a scent of the sea almost powerful enough to overwhelm the senses. Crisp breezes and cool morning mist which envelop hillside vineyards, offering intermittent glimpses of venerable, gnarled vines. These are the surroundings that have Chenin Blanc as one of the valued tenants - the South African Winelands.

It is in these diverse habitats that this noble variety expresses its inherent finesse and complexity. Lofty altitudes and southerly aspects punctuate the quality of the 2011 Chenin Blanc. For the 2011 vintage we selected the fruit from 30 year old Chenin vines with a north south row direction for optimum sun exposure. These old vineyards were harvested in three stages. Fruit that was exposed to direct sunlight, fruit that was hanging partially in the sun and finally fruit inside the canopy (shaded fruit). This equipped the winemaker with luscious, gradually ripened fruit with a variety of flavours.

in the cellar : The shaded fruit was tank fermented at a cool fermentation temperature, hovering around 13° - 14° C. This helped to express the ripe tropical fruit character of the variety. The balance (50%) was barrel fermented and aged for 5 months on the lees to add to the complexity and rich mouth feel of the wine. Thereafter both the components were blended and a further extended lees contact on the fine lees was applied. This resulted in a full-bodied wine with an intense ripe yellow fruitiness. Chenin is a wine that develops and deepens both in colour and aroma over time and as such rewards the patient with extra complexity while offering the impatient oodles of up-front fruit and charm.

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