Wine Composition
100% Chenin Blanc
Winemakers Comments
Attractive bright gold colour. Great intensity and sweetness – one of our richest vintages. Dried apricot and lemon skin, some flintiness, but mostly complex honey and treacle. The palate is intensely sweet, fresh and lively with an oxidative complexity and a long finish. This vintage is best as a sweet treat on its own after a meal. A rewarding challenge to match with desserts!
Previous Awards
93 Points - Wine Spectator
91 Points - Stephen Tanzer
4.5* - Platter's Wine Guide
Technical Analysis
Alcohol Percentage
11.05%
Total Acidity
6.7 g/l
pH
3.93
Residual Sugar
272 g/l
Vineyards/Vintage
Winter 2011 was colder than usual, but with average rainfall resulting in excellent, even bud-break. We had good growth in spring, but poor weather (cold and rain) over the flowering period resulting in uneven flowering and berry set. We paid extra attention to green harvesting to help make up for this. Disease pressure was managed with well-timed sprays and open, small canopies. January was exceptionally hot, which really jolted the vines into ripeness. The ripening period of February and March was much cooler and close to perfect with little rain and no rot and we managed to get all the grapes onto the racks in the cool mornings at optimum ripeness – @ 21°B to 23°B
Harvest Dates: 3/2/11 – 23/2/11.
Cellar Techniques
The grapes were picked at optimum ripeness and laid out on drying racks in 70% shade for 3 weeks. This allows the grapes to concentrate sugars, acids and flavours, before reharvesting in the cool mornings. Fermented with natural yeasts and matured for 21 months using mostly new 225 l oak barrels – 60% French and 40% America. Racked while in barrel to remove heavy sediment and lightly bentonite fined. The VA had to be reduced by about 20%.
Winemaker
Name - David Trafford
Winery
De Trafford Winery is situated on the beautiful Mont Fleur farm set at the top of a dramatic valley above Stellenbosch, 380m up between the Stellenbosch and Helderberg mountains, right at the end of the Blaauwklip road, between Stellenbosch and Somerset West.
The history of wine growing on this mountain farm started with the purchase of the property in 1976 by the Trafford family as inaccessible grazing land. Many of the high altitude slopes were deemed suitable for high quality red grape varieties. Unfortunately, due to the absurd quota restrictions, planting a commercial vineyard had to wait 18 years. In 1983 a small vineyard was established to produce experimental wines – consumed by family and friends! These were our learning curve years ( 1984 – 1991 ), which included lots of help and advice from local winemakers and working experience in France, particularly in the Bordeaux area.
