Chenin Blanc 'Swartland', Damascene 2023

• 100% Chenin Blanc • Sourced from two plots in the Swartland: one hilltop site on the NW extreme of the Paardeberg and the other, a few meters lower on the North facing slope on the Paardeberg • Old bush vines planted on decomposed granite, laid over a clay-rich subsoil • Hand harvested • Whole clusters were sorted and pressed with a delicate champagne-cycle • Each block was fermented separately with indigenous yeast and matured separately • Roughly 30% of the way through fermentation, the grape must was transferred to 1000L oval-shaped Austrian oak foudres, followed by 11 months of sur lie maturation • No battonage