The Luddite Chenin is a real ‘push the boat out’ wine. Niels wanted to express the nature of Chenin Blanc in the Bot River area, and batches of free run juice and pressed juice were put in barrels without settling and allowed to ferment naturally. He also did a batch of fermentation on skins with regular punch downs.

Old barrels allowed the natural grape expression to come through, and no sulphur was added to allow the wine to develop its own characteristics without any intervention. The Luddites feel by doing this they have allowed the wine to express exactly the direction it wanted to go.

This year is showing more savoury herbaceous notes. This wine remains a multi-dimensional experience, continually revealing different nuances and flavours in both the glass and the bottle over time. The palate is bold and weighty, even though the wine’s alcohol is below 12% like previous years. Good news is that we have a little bit more of our Chenin to offer. Our Chenin still remains a textured and very thought-provoking wine.

ANALYSIS: Alc: 10.7% | pH: 3.25 | TA: 5.8 g/L | RS: 1.0 g/L