Alheit Vineyards Huilkrans, Skurfberg 2024

Huilkrans comes from a single old vineyard high on the Skurfberg, in the remote Citrusdal mountains north of Cape Town - bush vines planted between 1974 and 1989 on deep red sand over clay, dry-farmed at 450 metres and yielding almost nothing. This is pure Chenin Blanc, made with the same hands-off method across the Alheit range. The fruit is hand-sorted and whole-bunch pressed, the cloudy juice left to ferment on wild yeast in old foudres and barrels, then held a year on its lees and several months more on fine lees before bottling - no new oak, no fining, nothing added. The intent is to bottle the site as directly as possible. The result is Chenin with real depth and grip: yellow plum, mandarin and preserved-lemon fruit, a waxy, lanolin richness from the old vines, and a savoury, stony line of acidity that gives the wine its tension and length. Powerful but not heavy, and built to age. Serve cool but not cold, around 10-12°C.