Tasting notes: False Bay Slow Chenin Blanc
Dried herbaceous notes, including fennel and aniseed from the nearby fynbos, dominate the nose, followed by a creamy lemon character. The palate is reminiscent of the nose, with great textural complexity, attributable to the long, slow wild yeast fermentation.
Food Pairing: False Bay Slow Chenin Blanc
A versatile wine equally well suited to partner lobster and other seafood, risotto or herb roast chicken. Can also handle spice very well.
Producer / Region
The grapes for False Bay Slow Chenin Blanc stem from old bush vines in The Swartland and Stellenbosch regions. Old vines are key to making stand-out Chenin and although The Swartland is not as coastal as most of the vineyards used for the False Bay wines, it is an area where, quite frankly, grapes from old vines are available at the required prices. Thankfully, the area’s old vines produce naturally low yields and retain good acidity despite being warmer and less windswept than Stellenbosch, so cooler, coastal Atlantic winds are less of a necessity for these gnarly old vines. Made by Waterkloof’s talented young Cellarmaster Nadia Barnard. Balanced grapes are hand harvested, fermented spontaneously with wild yeast in stainless steel tanks and then left on lees for a minimum of ten months before bottling. No additions other than sulphur as a preservative. Grown, made and bottled in South Africa. Vegan friendly wine from 2018 vintage. False Bay – Real Wine – Coastal Vineyards, Sustainably Farmed, Old Vines, Naturally Crafted, Wild Ferment, Slowly Matured.
An independent company, owned by Waterkloof founder Paul Boutinot, False Bay Vineyards aims to make ‘real’ wine affordable. These are sustainable certified wines bottled in South Africa and naturally crafted from mature and often old vineyards that, crucially, are naturally in balance. This means that, unusually at the price, the grapes from these coastal gems can be transformed into wine with wild yeast and an absolute minimum of intervention.
False Bay Vineyards is proud to be a WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Biodiversity Champion and certified by WIETA (Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association). All of their wines are Vegan friendly.
Named after South Africa’s most iconic bay, which frames much of the country’s premium wine lands, the False Bay range of wines are crafted by Waterkloof Cellarmaster Nadia Barnard. Grapes from mature, often old and always naturally balanced vineyards are sourced from the Cape’s Coastal Region. Natural balance in the grapes is a pre-requisite as this sustainably certified and South African bottled varietal range is -uniquely at the price- made with minimal intervention and fermented with wild yeast. False Bay – Real Wine.
