David & Nadia Aristargos White Blend 2022

David & Nadia is a family owned Swartland driven project. They focus on a spectrum of organic, old and dry land bush vine vineyards from different areas with different soil types throughout the Swartland, farmed by like-minded people. They are members of the Swartland Independent Producers. In the vineyard they aim for biological farming and in the cellar they work as naturally as possible – ‘it is all about the soil and vineyards after all’. They believe in a pure, fresh and natural style where site and soil are at work with minimal influence from a winemaking point of view.

Blend: Chenin blanc (47%), Sémillon (11%), Verdelho (9%), Clairette blanche (7%), Roussanne (7%), Grenache blanc (6%), Marsanne (6%), Colombar (5%) and Viognier (2%).

The Aristargos 2022 is yet again predominantly both Chenin blanc and Old Vines driven (Chenin blanc, Sémillon, Clairette blanche and Colombar), and the focus remains on the granitic soils of the Paardeberg. Chenin blanc from shallow shale soils in the Paardeberg and iron rich clay soils to the west of Malmesbury are also added. Dry land farmed bush vines have stood the test of time and it showcases the ultimate reason why Chenin blanc is their main focus in the Swartland. Planting dates vary from 1960 to 2013. The grapes were whole bunch pressed and naturally fermented and then matured for eleven months in old neutral French oak barrels. The grapes from the two Sémilllon vineyards were fermented on their skins for a week before being pressed and matured in a very old 2 500L foudre for a year. The Colombar was also fermented on the skins (for five days) and matured in old oak barrels. Two Chenin blanc components were fermented and matured in concrete vessels – one an egg, the other a square tank. In total the grapes from twenty-one different vineyards were used, picked in twenty-eight different lots.