Where new tricks meet old vines
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🗺 The Olifantsberg Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2019 is another cracker of a wine-geek bottling. SO many little details to ponder. It’s an old vine Chenin Blanc from the Breedekloof region (the unofficial home of South Africa Chenin). The fruit is taken from a vineyard in Rawsonville, where winemaker and viticulturist Elisme Visser has been rehabilitating the vines for the last five years.
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🧑🏻‍🌾 The other quite exciting news (albeit not sure recent) is the Elisme’s husband Ferdi is a fully fledged member of the team at Olifantsberg. As an award-winning winemaker in his own right, he brings a unique intricacy to the cellar decisions that make for fascinating deconstruction. 
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🔬 Grapes are harvested at a range of different ripenesses, and the final wine combines native ferments with lab yeast parcels, fermented in both stainless steel and old oak.
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🍷 The end result of all this geekery is one of the highest value chenins on the market. Aromas of crushed gravel, chamomile, caramelised yellow pear, and peach fruit segue into a highly textured, slightly waxy apricot pit, river stone, and white peach affair. Sublime.