Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2015

Concentrated aromas of guava, litchi and sweet melon on the nose with subtle oak notes. On the palate there is ripe fruit with hints of minerality and good combination of oak gives a full but yet elegant finish to the wine.


variety : Chenin Blanc [ 100% Chenin Blanc ]
winemaker : RJ Botha
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 13.5 % vol  rs : 4.9 g/l  pH : 3.45  
type : White  style : Dry  body : Full  taste : Fruity   wooded
pack : Bottle  size : 750ml  closure : Cork  

AWARDS

Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2015 - Harold Eedes Trophy for Best Chenin Blanc
Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2015 - Gold
Sommelier Wine Awards 2015 - Gold List
Sommelier Wine Awards 2015 - Food Match
International Wine and Spirit Competion 2014 - Silver Outstanding

ageing : This wine can be enjoyed now but will definitely reward those who wait, with careful cellaring it should age gracefully over the next 10 years.

in the vineyard : 2015 was an amazing vintage in South Africa. The grapes for this wine came from carefully selected old, bush vine vineyards on the Stellenbosch and Helderberg mountains as well as the Bottelary Hills. Each site and soil type contributed to different flavour profiles. It was a very dry summer with warm days and cold nights. Careful canopy management was carried out according to the specific site and quality potential of the blocks to ensure optimum ripeness and balance.

about the harvest: The old (25 - 40 years) bush vines only yielded 6 ton/ha, but the concentration of the fruit made up for these low yields.

in the cellar : The grapes were handpicked early in the morning and immediately crushed into holding tanks. We gave extended (24hours) skin contact to extract all the Chenin flavours to ensure good structure in the final wine. Only the free run juice was used and settled for 1 day before inoculation with selected yeast strains. The juice was racked into barrels for fermentation. No new barrels were used to ensure that unique characters of the specific terroirs are preserved in the wine. After fermentation the wine was aged on the primary lees for another 6 months before being racked out and prepared for bottling.

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