Du Bois, Sonop Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, 2024

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Du Bois, Sonop Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, 2024

This is an exceptional Chenin Blanc, sourced from two parcels of bush vines planted in 1982 and 1986. Such is the quality of the fruit that the Du Bois family have long been the go-to grower for many of South Africa’s top winemakers when they are searching out Chenin for their flagship whites. The family’s client list reads like a who’s who of Cape winemaking. This is the first wine the family have produced under their own label. Just 2000 bottles were produced in this, the first vintage, and we have secured 300 for the UK.

The grapes were whole bunch pressed and then fermented with natural yeasts in old, neutral 400 litre barrels, spending eleven months on lees to add weight and texture. The result is a very fine, restrained, Chenin with orange blossom and herbal edges to the apricot fruit. There’s a delicious ginger note in there too. The concentration that you only find in old vine Cape Chenin is superb and the wine has beautiful mid-palate weight without any heaviness or oak. Delicious now – especially given an hour or so to breathe – it will age very well too. It’s a wine with a fast growing reputation in the Cape and we expect it to be increasingly sought after elsewhere too. 13%. Now – 2033

“This Old Vine Chenin Blanc offers up beautifully classical aromatics of warm rain on granite, dried straw, fynbos and lemon blossoms over more seductive white peach, fresh stem ginger and green apple fruit nuances. Initially very nervy, slightly reductive and tight fisted on opening as you would expect with a young 2024 wine, the perfume and fruit slowly unfurl, offering up something extra each time you nose the glass. The steely tension and linearity initially shape the palate but given a few hours to unwind, the wine shows the vintage’s archetypal effortless concentration and seamless glycerol texture with classical restraint. Deliciously saline with mouthwatering acids, the wine remains taut, racy and incredibly precise with a long, persistent honey and pear laden finish. Still embryonic, so lock this Chenin Blanc up in the cellar and revisit with interest in 2 to 3 years’ time. A phenomenal maiden release, Gabriël du Bois is definitely an exciting new young talent to watch very closely. Drink from 2027 to 2038+ .95/100”, Greg Sherwood MW, gregsherwoodmw.com