Chenin Blanc is often referred to as South Africa’s Cinderella grape!
Today we harvested the block of Chenin Blanc on the hillside just behind our house. After cold settling and racking, we will be using Vin 13 yeast to make a fresh and fruity styled wine, which will later be blended with Sauvignon Blanc as the primary component of our Bradgate Chenin /Sauvignon Blanc blend. Unbeknown to many, Jordan has done particularly well with barrel-fermented Chenin, garnering two gold medals as well as the Chenin Blanc Trophy last year for South Africa’s best Chenin at the South African Wine Trophy Show. This is made from a 25 year old, shy-bearing vineyard planted on our cooler south-facing slope and because it is later ripening, is still at least a week or so away from harvest.
Every evening we all get together for supper, with Rachel, our Jordan Marketing Manager, cooking a meal for up to 20 people! During the meal, (and before everyone goes back to the winery to clean up), we have a ‘blind’ tasting where we taste some great wines from all over the world. Jordan cellar staff, family and harvest interns are put through their paces as they try to deduce what wines I have put in the line-up!
Julie and Iain Anderson have been helping us with our harvest videos (see the latest Jordan videos at http://www.winefilms.co.za/winefarms/Jordan/Jordanharvest.html ) and joined us for one of these tastings. Included in the line-up was a 2004 Pinot Blanc from Germany and a fantastic 1987 Cabernet blend from Iron Horse in California, the first wine that Kathy and I helped bottle when we worked there! I also selected a 1976 Roodeberg from our cellar which coincided with Sjaak’s birth year. The wine had matured well and showed remarkable fruit and structure for a 31 year old drink!
Today we harvested the block of Chenin Blanc on the hillside just behind our house. After cold settling and racking, we will be using Vin 13 yeast to make a fresh and fruity styled wine, which will later be blended with Sauvignon Blanc as the primary component of our Bradgate Chenin /Sauvignon Blanc blend. Unbeknown to many, Jordan has done particularly well with barrel-fermented Chenin, garnering two gold medals as well as the Chenin Blanc Trophy last year for South Africa’s best Chenin at the South African Wine Trophy Show. This is made from a 25 year old, shy-bearing vineyard planted on our cooler south-facing slope and because it is later ripening, is still at least a week or so away from harvest.
Every evening we all get together for supper, with Rachel, our Jordan Marketing Manager, cooking a meal for up to 20 people! During the meal, (and before everyone goes back to the winery to clean up), we have a ‘blind’ tasting where we taste some great wines from all over the world. Jordan cellar staff, family and harvest interns are put through their paces as they try to deduce what wines I have put in the line-up!
Julie and Iain Anderson have been helping us with our harvest videos (see the latest Jordan videos at http://www.winefilms.co.za/winefarms/Jordan/Jordanharvest.html ) and joined us for one of these tastings. Included in the line-up was a 2004 Pinot Blanc from Germany and a fantastic 1987 Cabernet blend from Iron Horse in California, the first wine that Kathy and I helped bottle when we worked there! I also selected a 1976 Roodeberg from our cellar which coincided with Sjaak’s birth year. The wine had matured well and showed remarkable fruit and structure for a 31 year old drink!
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