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Luddite Chenin 2012

The Mosaic Team was very excited to receive Niels Verburg from Luddite Wines this past Tuesday! He is renowned in the wine-world for producing truly excellent Shiraz very consistently for the past 15 years! He eventually found two new vineyard sites of Chenin Blanc, Wildekrans in the Bot River which has 30 year old vines and Avontzon Farm in the Van der Stel Pass which has 40 to 60 years old vines, to make a Chenin Blanc under his own label!




“I really believe that Bot River is suited to producing world class Chenin Blanc and that is the reason why we have made the wine as naturally as possible without any additions as


this is the only way to express the Bot River characteristics in the wine.” Niels is very passionate about this project and with good reason! 





The Luddite Chenin is a real “push the boat out” wine. Niels states: “We really wanted to express the nature of Chenin Blanc in the Bot River area so batches of free run juice and pressed juice were put in barrel without settling and allowed to ferment naturally. We also did a batch of fermentation on skins with regular punch downs. I feel by doing this we have allowed the wine to express exactly the direction it wanted to go. We used old barrels to allow the natural grape expression to come through. The wine was left on lees for 12 months with regular batonnage – no sulphur was added to allow the wine to develop its own characteristics without any intervention. All the batches were blended and then bottled and we are very excited with the result. The wine remained in barrels for 12 months after which the wine was lightly filtered and sulphur corrected before bottling.”


Cultivar: Chenin Blanc (100%).


Winemaker: Niels Verburg.


Color: A truly exceptional offering from Luddite, the Chenin has a lovely deep yellow / green colour, which is reflecting good complexity from the cool climate region.


Bouquet: The nose is closed at first and needs a little time in the glass to open up, evolving from tropical fruit and a chalky minerality to powerful nutty aromas with almonds dominating.


Palate: The wine has a medium body, showing not a trace of wood, but very good control over the oxidation which will allow the wine to age well, even at 12.5% Alcohol. Re-tasted 24 hours after bottle opened, the wine has kept the same intensity and quality as during the first tasting. The wine should not be drunk too cold as it loses some of the flavour. We would recommend 13 to 14 degrees Celsius.


Food Pairing: I would recommend pairing this wine with elegant dishes, light and full of flavor!


Score: 89/100


Santé!


Germain

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