2020 NAUTICAL DAWN, Alheit Vineyards. Stellenbosch, South Africa

This was the first vintage of this extraordinary single vineyard wine. Chris Alheit describes the site:
“On Rustenhof farm in Firgrove (southern Stellenbosch) there’s a small granite hill called Sinai. The crown of the hill has a few small granite domes protruding from the soil. From up there you can see the waves breaking only 4kms away. The hillside is planted from top to bottom with dry farmed bushvine Chenin Blanc. Nautical Dawn is made from a parcel planted in 1978 on the upper part of the slope. The vine rows run with the contour of the hill. The granite soil is shallow and warms quickly, causing this to be one of our earliest picks of the season, despite the relentless South-East wind.”

Chenin Blanc, fermented and matured for a year in large (2,000l) old oak barrels.

Chris and Suzanne started Alheit Vineyards in 2010, having met at Stellenbosch University. They are based on the Hemelrand farm near Hermanus but use vineyards from all around the key wine regions.

We have stored this since release. Now at last reaching some kind of early maturity.