2023 Spier Chenin Blanc Signature

The Chenin Blanc is one of the grapes of South Africa, planted here since time immemorial. Over the years, recognition for the quality of this grape has also grown in South Africa. One of its most important properties is that it can handle the warm climate of the Cape well, and therefore always retains its acidity and character. It can produce light-footed wines, but also wines with a very powerful character. The grapes for this wine come from vineyards with bush vines as well as from modern vineyards with wire-stretched Chenin vines. Only wine from the best vineyard blocks is used for the Signature. This Signature Chenin Blanc is made in a wonderfully fresh and style, with an elegant taste and vibrant fruit. Upon arrival, the grapes undergo brief contact with the skins to give them more flavor. The wine is fermented in tanks, and also matures in tanks, to preserve all the fruit. Moreover, the Chenin Blanc has plenty of character of its own. It matures for another three months on the yeast cells, which make it extra rich and firm in character. A delicious, smooth and fresh Chenin Blanc is the result.

In the glass, the Signature Chenin Blanc has a bright straw yellow color with a hint of green. The Signature Chenin Blanc is made in a wonderfully fresh style, with beautiful notes of elderflowers and ripe pear, passion fruit, spring-like, perfumed in the nose. On the palate, this Chenin blanc is aromatic and dry with the ripe apple known for Chenin and a wonderful liveliness. Elegant, dry white wine. Delicious aperitif, with spicy crab cakes, fried plaice, pasta dishes or a delicious green chicken salad.

The roots of the Spier house go back to the early years of the colony at the Cape, in 1692. In that year, the original farm in Stellenbosch was founded by the German colonist Arnout Janz. He was also the one who realized that the soil was very suitable for viticulture, and planted the first grape vines. The first grapes were pressed, and the old cellar, which was built in 1767, is one of the oldest wine buildings in the Cape. It is still the proud possession of the domain. Today, Spier is one of South Africa's most innovative wine companies with a cellar that has been modernized and expanded in recent years to realize its great ambitions. And in the same light we must view the expansion of the vineyard area, where there is the full control of a large team of experienced and talented winemakers under the leadership of the chief winemaker, Frans Smit.

According to the Spier winemakers, winemaking is an art. The grapes for the Classic Range grow in specially selected vineyards, picked at optimal ripeness and vinified in such a way that all characteristics of the wines are well preserved. Light wood aging provides an elegant background next to the fruit notes. The grapes of the Private Collection wines are hand selected in the old, single variety vineyards. After vinification, the wines undergo aging in French oak barrels. Only after this will the final selection of the wines take place, because only the best wines may carry the designation 'Private Collection'. Witness the many prizes that Spier has won with these wines.?

The wines from the Spier Estate in Stellenbosch are produced organically, which means that no artificial fertilizers, chemical pesticides or pesticides such as herbicides are used.