Painted Wolf The Den Chenin Blanc 2021
The den wines are social wines to be enjoyed with friends and family, named for the den, the heart of all African wild dog communities. Did you know that South Africa produces more Chenin Blanc than the rest of the world combined? It’s true – in fact more than 30% of all acres under vine in South Africa are planted to Chenin Blanc – primarily for their enormous brandy industry. Actually – South Africa grows more Chenin Blanc than the rest of the world combined!
Jeremy likes to use a combination of spontaneous ferments as well as cultured yeasts. He chases texture, but demands crispness with his wines. He likes a delicate mix of barrel aged Chenin along with primarily tank fermented juice. These are delicious, complex wines, made with a great cause as the beneficiary. Proceeds from his sales are donated to a wildlife conservation trust that helps save wild African dogs from extinction – hence the name “Painted Wolf”. If you’re fond of that white wine style that sits somewhere between Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, then this is a wine for you. We call it a “porch pounder”!
Enjoy with grilled fish tacos, ceviche, fresh salads, goat cheese, fried calamari, Thai chicken curries or
chicken satay with peanut sauce, a bucket of popcorn and a movie! Extremely versatile.
The fruit for this Chenin Blanc is hand-harvested off a number of low yielding blocks on Leeuwenkuil farm in the Swart- land and Welgegund in Wellington. On Leeuwenkuil the fruit came from vines of between 10 and 30 years of age. Welgegund sits in the horseshoe above Wellington town, and the vines were planted in 1974. This is a certified heritage vineyard under South Africa’s Old Vine Project, designed to preserve the surviving old vineyards of South Africa. The Leeuwenkuil grapes were cold-fermented in a stainless steel tank using natural yeast. The grapes from Welgegund were whole bunch pressed and barrel-fermented using natural yeast. The press was very gentle, yielding only around 550 litres of juice per ton for optimum quality. The wine was blended and tank stabilized before being bottled fairly young. Focus is on creating length and palate texture, with racy acidity.
Clones planted: 1064, 481
Rootstock: Richter 110
Soil types: Decomposed Malmesbury shale, Tukulu (decomposed granite), yellow-brown in color.
Trellis system: Vertical shoot positioning. Planting
distance: 2.75×1.2m
Irrigation: Some drip irrigation, some dry-farmed.
Average production: 8 tons per hectare Harvest
date: Mid-late February
Altitude: 200m above sea level
Temperature: Very hot, dry summers and cooler
winters with a large diurnal range.
Rainfall: 400mm per annum, mostly in winter.
Painted Wolf Wines supports the conservation of the highly endangered painted wolf (African wild dog) and the protection of the diminishing wild spaces of Africa, through its donations to the EWT (www.ewt.org.za) and Tusk (www.tusk.org).
