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C a t ’ s C r a d l eC h e n i n b l a n c

TASTING NOTES

Swart land Chenin blanc needs no introduct ion , having lon g

assumed i t s place among the wor ld ’ s key express ions of Ch en in

blanc . Langkloof , where we source our grapes for th i s win e i s

an old bush v ine Chenin blanc v ineyard planted on the gran i te

s lopes of the Paardeberg that belongs to the Roussouw fa mi ly.

An enormous amount of work went into the v ineyard dur in g

the 2017-2018 growing season to ensure that the v ineyard

could carry a heal thy and balanced c rop.

Pick ing was done with a c lear eye on the ac id i ty of the c rop

which can fa l l away dramat ica l ly dur ing the harvest due to low

water reserves in the s o i l .

This i s a very c lear and br ight express ion of Chenin blan c ,

wi th ground a lmonds , f rangipane f lowers , and white peac hes

on the nose. The palate i s po ised and f resh wi th g reat

concentrat ion and “dr ive” f rom the v ineyard .

CAT’S CRADLE NUTS & BOLTS

Chenin blanc – Swar t lan d

39 year o ld v ineyard on weathered gran i te

R a i s i n g o u r h a n d c r a f t e d w i n e s a l o n g w i t h o u r t w o D a u g h t e r s

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Wine of Orig in Western Cape

Vintage 2018

Alcohol – 13.4%

Residual sugar – 1 .13 g /L

Tota l ac id i ty – 5 .33 g /L

pH 3.44

T h o r n e & D a u g h t e r s

The 2018 v intage saw l i t t le respi te f r om the drought which has gr ipped the Western Cape

over the las t few years . Low mois ture reserves in the Paardeberg make for chal lenging

condi t ions in the bes t o f years , and we had to pay a lo t o f a t tent ion to ensure that we could

harvest r ipe, heal thy grapes wi th suff ic ient ac id i ty. Our key focus dur ing harvest i s p ick ing

t imes . I f we can pick grapes a t the r ig ht t ime, we can achieve tens ion and r ipeness in the

wine without the need to manipulate and “dress -up”the wines .

Chenin blanc on grani te i s something that we have worked with for a l l the years that we

have been making our Thorne and Daughters wines , and th i s wine made i t s debut wi th the

2017 v intage bot t l ing . Unfortunately, y ie lds of Chenin were very low in 2018, so we were

only able to bot t le 50% of what we would have l iked to do, but we have cer ta inly won-out in

terms of concentrat ion and qual i ty here.

As wi th a l l o f our wines , the winemaking i s incredibly s imple, as we have no des i re to s tand

between the v ineyard and i t s express ion as a wine in the g lass . The grapes are whole -bunch

pressed in an old basket press and there are no addi t ions of su lphur d ioxide made on the

ju ice. A rough set t l ing fo l lows press ing af ter which the wines undergo natura l a lcohol ic and

malolact ic fermentat ion in o ld oak barrel s . We add some sulphur d ioxide la te in the winter ,

and then aga in a t bot t l ing , keeping th e level o f su lphur d ioxide as low as poss ible. The

resul t i s wines that show tens ion without los ing the i r suppleness and core, and wines that

wi l l reward t ime in the cel lar .

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R a i s i n g o u r h a n d c r a f t e d w i n e s a l o n g w i t h o u r t w o D a u g h t e r s

T h o r n e & D a u g h t e r s

2 0 1 8

hello@thorneanddaughters.com • www.thorneanddaughters.com

T h o r n e & D a u g h t e r s

ABOUT THE WINE