This Stellenbosch edition is the marginally more restrained of the two Damascene Chenin Blancs. Nevertheless, it opens with lovely notes of gravel dust and dried herbs, alongside allusions to white peach, butter toffee and freshly-cut Starking apple pieces. The palate is both impressively structured and concentrated, with its chalky texture giving form to the flow of crisp apples and stone fruit.

Damascene Stellenbosch Old Vine Chenin Blanc is a blend of fruit from three sites in the Bottelary ward: Sonop, Houmoed and Mooiplaas. All three of these sites are situated on hilltops at between 325 and 340m ASL. On the southern end, the Mooiplaas vineyard was planted in 1981, on granitic soils. In contrast, the Houmoed vineyard – planted nine years earlier – grows in Greywacke soils. Finally, the Sonop vineyard to the north was planted into shales soils in 1982; making it the youngest of the three vineyards, at a spritely 41 years of age (at the time of the 2023 harvest).

ANALYSIS: ALC 13.5% | TA 5.4 g/l | RS 2.2 g/l | pH 3.48