‘Force Celeste’ Chenin Blanc

The ‘Force Celeste’ Chenin Blanc has always been about freshness and drinkability. Since the 2020 vintage, Stompie has made this wine in his cellar at the new home of Mother Rock and JH Meyer Wines, Platteklip Farm on the Piketberg Mountain in northern Swartland. While he waits for the vines he has planted to mature, he continues to source his grapes from other growers. This vintage, the grapes were sourced from the Kweperfontein Vineyard on the Paardeberg mountain. It was one of the wettest winters they had seen in the last 15 years, with rains over 25 inches in some areas of the Swartland. This gave the vines a very good start, and then a dry summer meant the perfect season for organic farming. They did as little as 3-4 sulfur sprays the entire growing season. Still, phenolic ripeness and sugar levels didn’t advance at quite the same pace, so lots of time was spent tasting the grapes and choosing the right picking date. Stompie ended up picking about 2 weeks earlier than normal, starting early January into February.

The grapes were hand-harvested into small lug-boxes, limiting the damage to the grape in larger bins. They were harvested at different sugar levels to insure good pH and acid from the early picking with powerful structure and aromas from riper batches. About 30% of the grapes were whole-bunch pressed with full lees and clusters to concrete for 14 days of skin contact, and the remaining 70% was de-stemmed and also sent to concrete. Fermentation occurred naturally and at cooler temperatures (~57°F) without any additions and after 12 months of aging, the components were blended to tank and settled naturally.  The wines were bottled without fining or filtration, and saw just a very light sulfuring for stability.