Mooiplaas Houmoed Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2018

Mooiplaas Wine Estate and Private Nature Reserve boast a pristine natural beauty. Owned and managed by Tielman and Louis Roos, the Mooiplaas vineyards lie on steep slopes of mineral rich soils in the Bottelary Hills of Stellenbosch, overlooking Cape Town.

Mooiplaas is a historic and traditional working wine estate bought by Nicolaas Roos in 1963. He was joined later by his two sons Tielman, viticulturist, and Louis, winemaker. They celebrated 50 years on the farm in 2013. The history of the farm dates back to 1806, with the manor house on the estate – a national monument – an impressive example of Cape Dutch architecture. Tielman and Louis produce a range of environmentally friendly wines rooted in tradition and artisan techniques to reflect the terroir.

Grapes for this 100% Chenin are from the two hectare Houmoed (Afrikaans for ‘to keep faith’ or ‘to pesevere’) single dry land bush vine vineyard, planted by Nicolaas Roos in 1972 at 290 metres above sea level on a south-west facing slope. Grapes were hand-harvested on the 2nd March 2018. In the cellar there was six hours skin contact, and juice cleaned by settling, fermented with four different yeast strains and aged in third and fourth fill oak barrels (70% French and 30% Hungarian) for nine months. Extended lees contact was allowed and bâtonnage took place once a week. A rough filtration took place prior to bottling on the 20th January 2019.