The weathered landscape of South Africa is the result of millions of years of battering storms. Storms that stirred in the waters off of the ‘Cape of Good Hope.’ That name is recent as historically it was known as the ‘Cabo das Tormentas’ or ‘Cape of Storms.’ In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias made the first modern rounding of the cape. Hundreds of previous attempts were made but the rugged lands of South Africa were protected by the rough seas and punishing storms. This ‘Storm Point’ remains a fabled place to this day, and this project was started as a collaboration focused on giving consumers a great insight into what the Swartland can do with varieties that work so well in the climate and soils. Intense aromatics, powerful flavors and bright acidity are the hallmarks of this wine.
The unruly landscape and intense growing season of the Swartland is the bedrock for this wine. Chenin Blanc is unquestionably the premier grape of South Africa. This wine hails from multiple gnarly, bush vine sites in the Swartland on gentle sloping granitic, sandy soils. These soils serve as the life force for the wine and are predominantly between 20-30-years-old. A cool, controlled fermentation (with native yeast now for the second vintage) occurred in stainless steel and was left on its gross lees for six months. Stainless steel was chosen to encapsulate the freshness and vitality of the grapes. The wine was bottled unfined with a light sheet filtration and dosage of sulfur.
