Hemelrand Vine Garden 2023

The Hemelrand Vineyard is a unique vineyard that embodies a true country blend of varieties that includes Chardonnay, Roussanne, Verdelho, Chenin Blanc, Viognier and Muscat Blanc. The philosophy of this cuvée is to bottle all the grape varieties from the vineyard without controlling the proportions, which change each year depending on the conditions of the vintage. Each grape variety is picked separately by hand and sorted in the vineyard. Fermentation takes place spontaneously in old barrels of different sizes, thanks to native yeasts , where the wine will remain for 12 months. It will then be transferred to stainless steel vats and will rest for 6 months on fine lees . The wine is not filtered. It is a truly artisanal and very complex wine that presents itself before us. We detect intense notes of vine peach , apricot , ripe pear , cooked apple , orange peel , lemon , white flowers , fresh herbs and some exotic nuances. The palate is fresh and of great aromatic richness enhanced by a fine acidity. The finish is salivating and gives way to a beautiful persistence with mineral nuances.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s. Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles. South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.