All wines
Sadie Family
Skurfberg
2020
4.2
Region
South Africa › Western Cape › WO Citrusdalberg
Type
white · still
Grapes
Chenin Blanc
Alcohol
14%
Volume
750 mL
Sugar
2.4 g/L
Tasting Notes(1)
4.2
Incredible multilayered Chenin Blanc that despite its complexity stays friendly and approachable. It offers a wide range of field flowers, smoke, honey, stone fruits, and lemon peel. Fresh flavours of pear lollipop, crème brûlée, and wet stones. Almost perfectly balanced, long aftertaste with a nice slightly bitter finish. It still amazes me that it's so easy to buy it in Kyiv.
About
Made of 100% Steen (South African synonym for Chenin Blanc) from Citrusdal Mountain.
Vinification The grapes are picked in small 20kg picking crates and then placed in a cooling room to reduce the temperature.We consider this an essential step in the Swartland where temperatures are often 35 degrees and more during harvest time; and pressing warm grapes comes with a series of potential challenges.
The cooling process is followed up by whole bunch pressing.The process takes about three hours and during this time there is a margin of settling of the juice in the collecting tank. The juice is then transferred to two older foudres where it is left undisturbed until natural fermentation starts.
The fermentation process can sometimes take up to 10 or more days to initiate and can last anything from 1 to 6 months, sometimes only finishing during the next spring, by which time the malolactic fermentation would often have come to completion as well.
Ageing The wine is left in cask on the fermentation lees for 12 months and we bottle from the lees. We add about 50ppm of sulphur 2 weeks prior to bottling and bottle directly from the cask.
