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False Bay Chenin Blanc

False Bay Chenin Blanc

$21.99

after South Africa’s most iconic bay, which frames much of the country’s premium winelands, False Bay Vineyards was borne out of a desire to make ‘real’ wine affordable.

Back in 1994, long before founding Waterkloof (his biodynamic vineyard overlooking False Bay), Paul Boutinot came to the Western Cape to seek out and rescue grapes from old, balanced and under-appreciated vineyards. These treasures were otherwise destined to be lost in the large cooperative blends that were dominating South Africa’s wine industry back then.

Unusually for that time, Paul transformed those Cape gems into wines with a minimum of intervention: Wild yeast ferments, no acid additions…you know the drill. A familiar story to many ‘real wine’ lovers now, but back then he was swimming against the tide. Even today, making wine this way at the price level is almost unheard of.

Today the ingredients remain the same for Waterkloof’s Cellar Master Nadia Barnard: Fantastic coastal fruit, old vines and wild yeast abound, with additions avoided.

750 ml

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Region:South Africa > Stellenbosch
Vintage:2022
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Slow Chenin Blanc is not fermented with fast-acting or aroma-‘enhancing’ commercially selected yeast. The grapes do not take three weeks to get from vineyard to bottle. It is crafted the wild way – old vine fruit, fermented with wild yeast found naturally on the grapes…not in a packet. This magical transformation takes at least six months. There are dried herbaceous notes, including fennel and aniseed from the nearby Fynbos, dominate the nose, followed by a creamy lemon character. The palate is reminiscent of the nose, with great textural complexity (attributable to the long, slow wild yeast fermentation), and more herbal characters.