Chenin Blanc

This Stellenbosch edition is the marginally more restrained of the two Damascene Chenins. Nevertheless, it opens with lovely notes of gravel dust and dried herbs, alongside allusions to white peach, butter toffee, and freshly-cut Starking apple pieces. The palate is both impressively structured and concentrated, with its chalky texture giving form to the flow of crisp apples and stone fruit.

Véraison in 2023 was even and early, prompting predictions of an early harvest. However, cool conditions in January slowed everything down a little, restoring a sense of normality. Earlier ripening cultivars like Chenin Blanc still managed to deliver impressively low pH levels and high organic acids. Our Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc was picked between 13th February and 1st March 2023.

Damascene Stellenbosch Old Vine Chenin Blanc is a blend of fruit from three sites in the Bottelary ward: Sonop, Houmoed, and Mooiplaas. All three of these sites are situated on hilltops at between 325 and 340m ASL. On the southern end, the Mooiplaas vineyard was planted in 1981, on granitic soils. In contrast, the Houmoed vineyard – planted nine years earlier – grows in Greywacke soils. Finally, the Sonop vineyard to the north was planted into shales soils in 1982; making it the youngest of the three vineyards, at a spritely 41 years of age (at the time of the 2023 harvest).

After being harvested by hand, grapes were chilled overnight at 8˚C. In the cellar, whole clusters were sorted and pressed with a delicate champagne-cycle, and then allowed to settle overnight. The juice was transferred to 1000L oval Austrian oak foudres for fermentation. Lighter, more fluid lees were allowed to be transferred with the juice, and remained there during fermentation. This significantly increasing turbidity levels; creating what is termed a “dirty ferment”. No enzymes were added during pressing, and minimal sulphur was used throughout vinification. Only native yeasts were involved in the making of our wines, and most of the batches only saw sulphur for the first time just before bottling in January. This wine features some truly outstanding natural acidity, so we prevented malolactic conversion, as this would only serve to obscure that brightness. We also refrained from any batonnage (for the same reason). The final wine was matured “sur lie” for 11 months in 1000L Oval Austrian oak vats at 6-8˚C.

This wine will be at its most expressive within three to five years of vintage but, with careful cellaring, will continue to evolve and improve for more than a decade. With extended bottle ageing, expect tertiary flavours to intensify, showing the true quality of old vine Chenin Blanc.

Total production: 2985 x 750ml and 85 x 1.5L

Bottling date: 10 January 2024

Alc: 13.67 % Vol

pH: 3.48

TA: 5.4 g/L

RS: 2.2 g/L