Alheit Vineyards Hemelrand Vine Garden 2022

“One of my picks from Alheit this year. Excellent…This used to be the one wine from Alheit Vineyards that we didn’t include in our allocation request, because we felt it always had too much Muscat in the blend. It’s perfectly clear to me, and should be to anyone else, that Chris Alheit has taken heed of our important opinion and has since reduced the percentage of Muscat and the wine is all the better for it. It’s still pretty and perfumed, but not as ‘muscaty’ as it was previously, with a delicate nose of meadow flowers, apricot and grapefruit and a lively stone-fruit-cocktail palate. Right, must dash, we need to go and tell that Eric Kohler how much Merlot to pop in his Chateau Lafite.” – 95 points Neal Martin, Vinous

Hemelrand Vine Garden is a unique vineyard that produces a unique wine. The idea is to bottle the wine just as the vineyard produces it, effectively creating a white field blend that changes every year depending on the vintage conditions. This way we have one place expressed by a few different grapes, changing as the season dictates. Hemelrand continues to fulfil its promise of excellence, showing increased depth and nuance year- on-year as the vines mature.

Hemelrand it is situated on the cold and windy Hemel & Aarde Ridge at 360 meters above sea level on gravelly clay and Sandstone. The vineyard was planted in 2010 to Chardonnay, Roussanne, Verdelho, Chenin blanc, and Muscat Blanc a petit grain. However, as mentioned, the proportions of the different grapes produced significantly varies each vintage. Viticulturally speaking, this is a marginal site, the upside of which is slow ripening with high natural acidity.

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