Raats Family Wines, Original Chenin Blanc

100% Chenin Blanc, this has a distinctive yellow apple and pineapple core, alongside notes of green melon and limes. The wine is bursting with fresh fruit flavours ending with zesty citrus flavours, and has a long mineral finish. A very clean and satisfying hand-picked Chenin Blanc that’s a versatile wine for food pairing.

Grapes grown from the two soil types are fermented separately, the decomposed granite bringing a lime and mineral character, while the sandstone more topical fruit and structure. The juice was cold settled for 2 to 3 days, then cold fermented (14º – 16ºC) in stainless steel tanks and aged on the lees for 6 months before bottling. No wood ageing.

As part of the new wave of South African winemakers, Bruwer crafts soil specific wines that embody the unique characteristics of the region. With hand harvesting, whole bunch pressing and using natural fermentation without fining or filtering it helps him create wines that are world class. His mastery of chenin blanc and cabernet franc is bringing him praise from around the world as “the most exciting and forward thinking winemaker” in Stellenbosch.

Tim Atkin South Africa Report 2022 91 Points
Bruwer Raats makes 60,000 bottles of this textbook unwooded Chenin Blanc from the Polkadraai Hills. Wonderfully fresh and granitic, it’s a pithy, jasmine and green apple-like white with crunchy acidity and the structure to develop further in bottle.