Tasting notes:
False Bay Slow Chenin Blanc. Ripe citrus and green plum fruit on the nose, with lightly bready aromas and notes of dried herbs including fennel and aniseed. Good concentration of zesty fruit with a creamy lemon character offset by taught acidity. The finish is long with great textural complexity, attributable to the long, slow, wild yeast fermentation.
Food Pairing:
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: False Bay Slow Chenin Blanc
Named after South Africa’s most iconic bay, which frames much of the country’s premium winelands, False Bay Vineyards was borne out of a desire to make ‘real’ wine affordable.
Back in 1994, long before founding Waterkloof – his regenerative vineyard overlooking False Bay- Paul Boutinot came to the Western Cape to seek out and rescue grapes from old, balanced and under-appreciated vineyards. These treasures were otherwise destined to be lost in the large co-operative blends that were dominating South Africa’s wine industry back then.
Unusually for that time, Paul transformed those Cape gems into wines with a minimum of intervention: Wild yeast ferments, no acid additions…you know the drill. A familiar story to many ‘real wine’ lovers now, but back then he was swimming against the tide. Even today, making wine this way at the price-level is almost unheard of.
Today the ingredients remain the same for Waterkloof’s Cellar Master Nadia Barnard: Fantastic coastal fruit, old vines and wild yeast abound, with additions avoided.
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.
False Bay are also certified as part of South Africa’s sustainability accreditation, the ‘Integrated Production of Wine’ (IPW) system. The IPW scheme, started in 1998, consists of a set of audited guidelines specifying agricultural practices, manufacturing practices and bottling activities.
