Classic Collection Chenin Blanc 2021

• 75cl bottle

Initial aromas of lime and citrus zest are beautifully intertwined with a virtual ‘fruit salad’ of tropical fruits. These flavours follow on the palate, and combined with the rich texture and elegant minerality, ensure a very long finish. The wine can be enjoyed now on its own or with sushi, roast chicken and creamy pasta dishes, but will also mature gracefully over the next 3 to 5 years.

Vineyards

The grapes for this wine comes from selected vineyards in Stellenbosch and Paarl. Owing to the nature of bush vines, careful canopy management was exercised so that no bunches were exposed to excessive sunlight and an even ripening of the grapes.

Vintage

Kleine Zalze concluded the 2021 harvest by mid-April. The wine is all safely in the winery and we are very happy with the vintage and extremely excited at this early stage about the exceptional wines that will flow from the 2021 crop. Excellent winter rains and late rains into spring ensured good moisture content in the soil with the onset of the growing season. The prolonged cool spring weather meant that bud burst was about two weeks later than normal and slightly uneven. The subsequent moderate to cool weather during flowering and berry set continued into the rest of the growing season. The much cooler than normal growing season meant that we started harvest two weeks later than normal. The cool weather also persisted through the harvest period leading to not only exceptional acidity in the grapes and wine but the best acid balance ever seen in our grapes and wine. The harvest was briefly interrupted by a fairly large rain event, of nearly 60mm, early in March. This was initially a cause for some concern. However, moderate and dry weather following the rain actually ensured a long healthy ripening for our grapes and the late ripening varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, reached physiological ripeness at lower sugar levels than normal. All in all, the vintage resulted in wines that have amazing balance and finesse and what they may not have in power they will make up with great purity and elegance.

Winemaking

All the vineyard parcels were harvested at optimum ripeness and vinified separately. All the grapes were given 12 to 24 hours extended skin contact before only the free-run juice was transferred to tank for fermentation. The wines were fermented at low temperatures with selected yeast strains to highlight each vineyards specific characteristic. After fermentation the wine was left for a further four months in contact with the lees before putting the final blend together.

Enjoy with:

• Grilled and Roasted White Meats
• Fish/Shellfish
• Salads and Picnics

Great as an aperitif