Description

VARIETAL
Chenin blanc
ANALYSIS
Alc. 8.3% Vol | RS 296g/l | pH 3.41 | TA 10.1 g/l
ORIGIN
Piekenierskloof
VINEYARD
A younger trellised Chenin blanc vineyard grown at 770m above
sea level in the Piekenierskloof. Fairly unassuming, this vineyard is
Chenin with one of the highest natural acids I’ve seen in the variety
in South Africa. Grown on sandstone soils, the fruit is picked and
dried on nets alongside the old Oak trees on the farm, getting a
mix of sun and shade through the day.
VINIFICATION
Sun dried grapes are brought into the winery after 2-3 weeks on
the nets. We don’t do any sorting, all the acorns from the oaks that
fall amongst the bunches are processed with the fruit. Grapes are
foot stomped for a full week with a bit of fermenting Chenin juice
added to start the process. Basket pressing then yields us around
a 15% recovery from the original 3 tons of fruit picked for drying.
The must then continues fermenting for up to a year in an old 225L
French oak barrel and glass demijohn.
TASTING NOTES
The 2024 vintage sees a welcome return of Josephine as no 2023
was bottled. Pineapple pastille, dried apricots and peaches,
rooibos tea and honey. A wine that always tastes a lot drier than
the high sugars suggest thanks to the racy acidity and phenolic
grip. While good now, Not Tonight Josephine will reward for
another 20 years to come.