The Wine Society's Generation Series South African Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch 2023 is no longer available
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The Wine Society's Generation Series South African Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch 2023
Wine characteristics
- White Wine
- 2 - Dry
- Chenin Blanc
- 75cl
- Drinking now
- 13.5% Alcohol
- no oak influence
- Screwcap
More on the wine
The chenin blanc grape was taken to the Cape by French Huguenot settlers over 350 years ago, and it remains the most widely planted grape in South Africa, its naturally high acidity maintained even in warmer climates. For years it served as a cheap and cheerful, high-production wine, which did not do the Cape, or chenin, many favours. But chenin lends itself, in the right hands and locations, to the full spectrum of styles, from sparkling wine and crisp dry white, through serious full-bodied whites to intensely sweet dessert wines, many of which have tremendous ageing potential. It is this versatility and durability which makes chenin blanc one of the great white wine grapes of the world.
So, which style to choose for our 150th Anniversary wine? We wanted a chenin that would sit between our two existing own label wines, The Society’s Chenin Blanc, from Villiera estate, and The Society’s Exhibition Chenin Blanc, made for us by Chris Alheit. We opted for a classically styled Stellenbosch chenin that combines fresher unoaked wine with a barrel-fermented/wood-aged component for palate weight, texture and complexity. It was made for us by Radford Dale, producer of our new Society’s South African Pinotage Syrah, and Alex Dale’s award-winning winemaking team headed by Cellarmaster Jacques de Klerk. It was bottled in November 2023.
Radford Dale
Radford Dale have worked with The Wine Society for over 30 years and supply The Society’s pinotage-syrah among other wines, as well as proving a brilliant case study in pioneering sustainable practices, despite challenging circumstances. Vineyard sources range from the farm's own vineyards in the Helderberg area of Stellenbosch (where the ocean provides cooling breezes to the mountainside chenin blanc vines, which are planted granite and clay soils, and are up to 50 years old), as well as cool-climate Elgin for pinot noir, and southern-Rhône-like Swartland soils for old-vine carignan, grenache and mourvèdre.
Environmental Sustainability
Radford Dale have erected raptor perching poles throughout the vineyards to manage pests through natural selection rather than using pesticides; they also fill nets with dog hair around vineyard blocks (mainly the young vines and newly planted sapling blocks with thin, juicy stems and branches) to repel deer who like to chew on the vines. They created a water purification reed system, allowing winery effluent water to be clarified naturally by plants rather than chemicals and machinery.Social Sustainability
In 2006, they initiated the Land of Hope Educational Trust, a project which generates revenue from the sale of wines of the Land of Hope range, to fully pay all educational costs for the children of their black employees. This has run since the 2007 vintage, from crèche age right through tertiary education.
Decanter
Lemon, clementine and grapefruit give energy while melon, white peach and Braeburn apple build a fleshy fruit core. Subtle salinity, verve and freshness, and a nutty creaminess.
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