Intellego The Story of Harry Chenin Blanc 2021 750ml

ABOUT This is the third iteration of ‘The Story of Harry.’ Harry is a real person who is part of the vineyard crew and is just as much a part of the ‘terroir’ of the wine as the vineyard. Without these vineyard workers, high quality wine would not be possible. Moreover without the work that the winemakers have available, many of these communities would remain desolate. Jurgen illustrates the collaborative team effort through the imagery on the label that is his artistic interpretation of the long drives in the Swartland going from town to township to city to farm. The colorful homes and clothing dot the landscape and form the symbiotic community of the Swartland. The fruit all comes off of a single site northeast of the Paardeberg with the Chardonnay at the bottom of the vineyard at lower altitudes and the Chenin further up the slope facing due East. The Chenin was planted in 2002 and the Chardonnay in 1998 and both are bush vine plantings and have been dry-farmed since their inception. Jurgen would never consider making a varietal Chardonnay from the Swartland at the lower-lying altitudes, but the richness blended with the linear Chenin is a truly great harmony of varieties. The fruit was hand-harvested in the cool, dark morning of early February. The Chenin Blanc component was entirely destemmed and fermented on the skins for one week in open-top plastic fermenters without any additions. Following a week on skins the lot was pressed directly to old 25hL and 30hL foudres for aging. The Chardonnay was whole-bunch pressed directly to old oak barrels for a reductive natural fermentation on its gross lees. Aging occurred for 10 months in old oak barrels (Chardonnay) and French foudres (Chenin Blanc). Both components were racked once to tank to harmonize and settle naturally prior to being bottled without fining and just a coarse filtration and small addition of sulfur. DATA Grapes: 75% Chenin Blanc - 25% Chardonnay Vineyard: A single site in the Paardeberg Vine Age: 21-years-old (Chenin Blanc) - 25-years-old (Chardonnay) Soil Type: Decomposed granite atop exposed granitic boulders Viticulture: Practicing Organic - dry-farmed Fermentation: Native - plastic tank (Chenin Blanc - destemmed) – used barrels (Chardonnay - whole-bunch pressed) Skin Contact: 7 days (Chenin Blanc) Aging: 10 months in old oak barrels (Chardonnay) and French foudres (Chenin Blanc) Alcohol: 12% Residual Sugar: 1.8 g/L pH: 3.75 Total Acidity: 6.1 g/L Total SO2: 37 ppm Total Production: 500 cases TASTING NOTE The nose is a medley of peaches, hay, lemon, and subtle but unoffensive reduction. The palate continues these themes with beautiful stone fruit expressions, clear acidity, and a rustic grip. With time in the glass, this opens up quite nicely to reveal a saline finish.