Eikendal Noble Late Harvest Chenin Blanc

Notes - Situated in the Cape Winelands of South Africa the barrel-vaulted cellar buildings of Eikendal Vineyards form a distinctive landmark on the R44 route, positioned between the historic university town of Stellenbosch and the residential suburbs of Somerset West. Since 1981 the 76 ha large wine farm has been under the ownership of the Saager family from Zurich/ Switzerland. The botrytised grapes for this wine were hand-picked in the early morning in April 2005. For wine to be certified 'Noble Late Harvest', the concentration of sugar has to be above 100g/L - the Eikendal is 123.2g/L. The grapes are lightly crushed and the juice is allowed to settle overnight. The Chenin Blanc is then fermented in two year old French oak barrels and aged for a further 7 months in oak. The Eikendal is a brilliantly concentrated Noble Late Harvest made from Chenin grapes. The honeyed bouquet is layered with sun dried peach and apricot aromas and the typical flavours of “Botrytis cinerea” (ripe pineapple). On the palate there is a taste explosion of ripe pineapples. It is an elegant but flavour packed wine with a good fruit and fresh acidity for long ageing. The Noble Late Harvest is wonderful to drink now but will mature to elegant finesse in the next 5 to 10 years.
 
     

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