Painted Wolf The Den Chenin Blanc 2018

Tasting Notes: This wine has a bright aroma and flavour. Soft, peach, lemon and guava with an underlying savoury minerality and a whisper of wood. The wine has a great texture and a layered finish with bright acidity keeping it fresh and vibrant.

The story of this wine: The den wines are social wines to be enjoyed with friends and family. These wines are named for the den, the heart of all African wild dog communities. Flavour-packed, soft and juicy comfort wines for every day drinking.

Jenny Metelerkamp produced a fine Painted Wolf ink drawing for the label.

Food suggestions:

The vineyard: Chenin Blanc is harvested from three separate vineyards in the Swartland region.

Winemaking: 2018 was the fourth dry vintage on the trot. It was however quite cool coming into the harvest period. We adapted to the conditions of the vintage by making three separate batches of wine, the first from early picked fruit, and the second a riper portion fermented with a small number of French oak staves and a third component which spend a few months on lees. We opted for simple cold fermentation with natural yeast. The oak component makes up around 40% of the total blend. The three components had different flavours and textures from which we have endeavoured to produce a well- balanced interesting wine which is a joy to drink.

Ageing Potential: This wine should be drunk within 2-3 years of the vintage.