Citrusdal Mountain. This extraordinary 100% Chenin Blanc hails from one of South Africa’s northernmost wine regions, the arid Citrusdal Mountain District, on the west bank of the Olifants River. Specifically, the fruit is drawn from the late Basie van Lill’s 90-year-old ungrafted bush vines at 640 metres on the decomposed, red sandstone slopes of the Skurfberg (which means ‘rigid mountain’). Planted between 1940 and 1955, these immaculately farmed vines have never been treated with herbicides or chemical fertilisers. “It is a truly great site for Chenin, and it is most unusual that such a warm and dry area still produces wines with this enormous texture and freshness,” says Eben.
Again, the Chenin is basket-pressed as bunches and transferred to old casks for spontaneous fermentation. Following 12 months on lees, the wine is blended and returned to the same casks before being bottled directly from foudre. The result is a tension-fuelled wine that can easily stand up to the greatest Chenins of the Loire—a wine of jaw-dropping texture, mineral energy and complexity. “The [2023’s] viscosity and volume, combined with the cutting acidity, suggest that this vintage has the mechanics to age incredibly well, like Kokerboom,” says Eben.