Baby Bandito Stay Brave Chenin Blanc 2022 - Testalonga

Skin contact Chenin Blanc from koffieklip over granite soils on the outskirts of the Paardeberg.  Waxy, nutty, harmonious and complex with some rich pear and peach notes. Has some orange peel. Fresh and vital and showing lovely balance. Makes you salivate.

Craig and Carla seek purity, precision and brightness in their wines and only work with vineyards that can produce high-quality grapes (with relatively low pH) ensuring that there is minimal need for intervention in the cellar. A herbicide- and pesticide-free approach in the vineyard is essential to their goals. They work with cover crops rather than chemical fertilisers in the winter to ensure moisture retention and general soil health in the dry Swartland climate. Expressing vineyard is key, so all the wines are a single variety from a single site. In the cellar there is no yeast, enzymes or acid added. The whites are whole-bunch pressed and then fermented in either stainless steel, foudre or small oak. The skin ferment white wines are destemmed and then fermented on skins for 7-14 days in wrapped open top fermenters before being pressed to old wood. The reds are fermented whole-bunch and usually pressed after 3-4 days. A minuscule amount of SO2 may be added before bottling.