False Bay Vineyards Peacock Wild Ferment Chenin Blanc 2022 (3 x 750ml)

PEACOCK WILD FERMENT CHENIN BLANC

Available Vintages

2021 & 2022

Helderberg and Schapenberg vineyards:
The finest coastal sites of W.O. Stellenbosch
Old Vines
Sustainably Farmed
Hand Picked
Naturally Crafted
Wild Ferment
Vegan Wine

IT’S REALLY ALL ABOUT THE VINEYARDS

Chenin Blanc is regarded as the workhorse of the South African wine industry. It produces the bulk of our generic white wines. There are, however, some gems lurking amidst the flurry of Chenin blanc vineyards. Our goal is to identify these gems and allow them to be expressed in our Peacock Wild Ferment Chenin Blanc.

Our Peacock Wild Ferment Chenin Blanc grapes stem from the Helderberg ward on the coastal outskirts of Stellenbosch (the home of Waterkloof). Over time, these old bushvine vineyards (20—50 years old), planted in Chenin friendly soils, have found their natural balance and it definitely shows in the wine.

A GENTLE HAND

We follow a ‘less is more’, minimal intervention winemaking philosophy for all our wines. Grapes are tasted at regular intervals to determine optimal ripeness level. Harvesting takes place by hand after which, the grapes are whole bunch pressed in a modern basket press. Clarification happens naturally over a 24 hour period, without the addition of any enzymes nor settling agents.The juice is then fermented in stainless steel, concrete eggs and also in older 600L barrels, with “wild yeasts” from the grapes, which allow for the flavours in the vineyard to be expressed in the wine. No additions of tartaric acid are necessary, due to the natural balance found in the grapes. Fermentation took roughly three months to complete and the wine was then left on the secondary lees for another month before bottling.

AND A FEW PRAYERS TO MOTHER NATURE: THE 2018/2019 GROWING SEASON

We welcomed a bit of rain just after the 2018 harvest, which allowed the vine to build-up reserves for the 2019 harvest to come. The 2018 winter was cold and the vine could go into proper dormancy, followed by an even budburst during a cool spring. We had a lot of wind during flowering which led to uneven berry set on some of the blocks. To help the vine ripen properly, we sorted through to keep the more developed bunches on the vine.

From there the summer growing season was fairly cool, except for a few warmer days in October. We were also very glad to welcome some rain in January, which accompanied by the wind, led to the soil receiving good moisture without having humidity build-up on the grapes that could cause rot.

The 2019 harvest commenced the last week of January, but went into full swing from the first week of February. We picked our last grapes at the end of March. On the younger blocks, the yield was down by about 10 percent but the older blocks produced more or less the same.

The whites showed a lot of concentration and vibrant acidity. With the reds, we had lovely small berries with thick skins. During processing, we once again worked as gently as possible to always avoid over-extracting and just let nature takes its course with our natural ferments.

TASTING NOTES FROM THE GLASS OF NADIA BARNARD

Aromas of peach, lime and green apple is what I can appreciate on the nose. These elegant flavours carry through onto the palate with a lovely freshness and a long, elegant finish.  Enjoy this wine with a variety of dishes, including seafood, chicken risottos and Thai cuisine.

THE NUMBERS

Alc: 13

RS: 2.5 g/L

TA: 4.8 g/L

pH: 3.5