Vineyards
There is something very special about this place in the mountains – isolation, old vines, low rainfall, deep red sand over red. Huilkrans is made from old dry farmed Chenin parcels planted between 1974 and 1989 on a gentle southern slope at 450 m above sea level. These big bushvines are wide planted (low density vineyards) with yields usuallyin the region of 1.5 ton/Ha.
In 2020 the farm experienced a drought so bad that many of the vines died. There werevirtually no grapes. Two seasons of careful pruning and a great winter in 2021 literally this vineyard’s life. In 2022, we had a great yield, over 3 tons per Ha. We’re very happy to be able to bottle Huilkrans again after a two-year hiatus.
Technical Details
Varieties:
100% Chenin Blanc (Bushvines)
100% Chenin Blanc (Bushvines)
| Wine of origin | Citrusdal Mountain (aka Skurfberg), Oudam Farm |
|---|---|
| Production | 3796 bottles and 120 magnums |
| Bottling | May 23 2023 |
| Alcohol | 13.18% |
|---|---|
| RS | 2.0 g/litre |
| TA | 5.46 g/litre |
| PH | 3.49 |
The Visser family chose the name Huilkrans, the name of a cliff on the farm that weeps when it rains. Since the untimely passing of their son Kallie in 2017, the name now has an unintended double meaning. Even so, they’ve elected to keep it unchanged. The label pays homage to Kallie.
Winemaking and Maturation
The grapes were hand sorted and whole bunch pressed. The juice is very lightly settled (we like very cloudy raw juice) with no additions to the raw juice, wild fermentation in foudres and also in old barrels of various sizes, mostly 400L. Fermentation lasted for about one month. The wine was kept on lees for around 12 months, then rested in tank on fine lees without fining for a further six months prior to bottling. Very simple, careful
winemaking.
Tasting Notes
As usual, this is quite a powerful wine. The nose shows orange skin, stone fruit, and Rooibos. The palate is layered and intense, very flavourful, building in the mouth, energetic and long, laced with rusty Skurfberg minerality.
