Riebeeksrivier Chenin Blanc
Oatmeal, macadamia nuts and creamy stone fruit on the nose. The palate echoes those flavours with its richness and breadth. Peach pip, nectarine and stone fruit are fresh and lively while the oak supports it in a well-defined cradle. Again oatmeal and nutty flavours are apparent but not overwhelming. The wine is powerful yet refined and structured. Nothing is superfluous and its perfectly proportioned with a long tail of flavour that ends with a delightfully pithy citrus twist.
3,450 Ft 750 ml
20 in stock
| Weight | 1.5 kg |
|---|---|
| Colour | white |
| Style | |
| Évjárat |
| Region | Swartland, South Africa |
|---|
In the Cellar
Despite the continuing severe drought conditions in the Western Cape, the 2018 harvest yielded very healthy fruit with beautiful flavour and good acidity. Relatively cool conditions and intermittent rainfall during the growing season delayed the onset of vintage slightly in comparison to the previous three vintages. The warmer regions like Swartland were most severely affected by the drought, resulting in extremely low yields of high quality fruit.
The Riebeeksrivier farm is situated on the slopes of the Kasteelberg, overlooking the Swartland. Its unique terroir, especially the shale soils, expresses itself strongly in the wine with unique varietal characteristics. e grapes were picked at optimal ripeness and transported to the cellar in refrigerated trucks. Whole bunches were pressed and the juice settled overnight. Fermentation occurred in both stainless steel tanks (65%) and French Oak barrels (17% new) and the wine spent 8 months on the lees before being blended and bottled.
The bush vine Chenin Blanc vineyards, planted in 1988, yield fruit of great intensity and richness balanced by bright acidity and length. A small 0.8ha bush vine vineyard (Clone 880) was planted in 2013, producing outstanding quality fruit used in the production of this wine.
About the winery: Anthonij Rupert
From its home base on historic L' Ormarins wine farm beneath the jagged peaks of the Groot Drakenstein mountain in Franschhoek, Anthonij Rupert Wyne has cast its net wide, across the length and breadth of the Cape Winelands, in search of what it takes to make the finest wines this corner of the wine-making world has to offer.
The Swartland Region
The Swartland literally translated means ‘the black land’. The area takes its name from the now endangered indigenous renosterbos (rhino bush) which once turned the landscape a dark colour at certain times of the year. This country wine and olive route is renowned for its warm Swartland hospitality. Walks and hikes are popular, as are 4X4 trails, and for the more adventurous there’s hang-gliding, paragliding, canoeing, clay-pigeon shooting and horse riding, to name but a few. Increasing percentages of red-wine varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage and Shiraz, are being grown here, as well as Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. The Swartland was traditionally a source of robust, full-bodied red wines and high-quality fortified wines. The district has more recently also become associated with award-winning Chenin Blanc, and Mediterranean-style red and white blends.
