Meinert ‘6CHEN’ Chenin Blanc 2019

Meinert ‘6Chen’ Chenin Blanc 2019

Winemaking

After careful selection and hand harvesting, our fruit was transported by means of refrigerated truck to our winery and further cooled overnight in our cold room to 5°C. Whole bunch pressing, and in general, a more oxidative style of winemaking allows for the unique nuances of the vineyard to manifest in your glass. Natural fermentation with wild yeasts in a combination of concrete tanks, seasoned oak barrels and untoasted oak barrels ensure a multi-layered wine beaming with minerality and complexity. Lees contact for a period of six months after fermentation adds texture and richness on the midpalate and finish.

Tasting Notes

The wine shows a perfumed and expressive nose featuring white peach, pear, and green apple, interwoven with delicate floral aromas and a subtle flinty edge. On the palate, it offers a soft, rounded texture with fresh acidity and layered complexity from lees contact. The finish is long and vibrant, balancing ripe fruit flavors with minerality and gentle citrus notes.

Analysis

Alcohol: 12.5 %
Residual Sugar: 2.1 g/l
Total Acidity: 5.0 g/l
pH: 3.41
Wine of Origin: Swartland

Special Note

Meinert Wines is based at Devon Crest in the Devon Valley of Stellenbosch, where we craft a focused, small-volume range of wines. But for 6Chen, we ventured further afield — to the Swartland — in search of something truly special.

This Chenin Blanc-based blend (92%) with a touch of Muscat d’Alexandrie (Hanepoot) is sourced from dryland vineyards planted in 1982 (Chenin) and 1978 (Muscat) on iron-rich, decomposed shale soils. The resulting wine is a tribute to thoughtful winemaking, old vines, and the quiet power of site-specific expression.

This wine’s story is of belonging, a ‘sense of place’ as it where, not only because our winemaker Brendan Butler is living his passion to craft ‘6 star’ wines-earning his rightful place in an elite group of premium wine artisans, but also because this beautiful wine reflects its sense of place with a smorgasbord of delicate flavours that truly indulge the senses. In crafting the 6CHEN we aspire to create an ethereal expression of Chenin by marrying the stalwart of the Swartland, Chenin Blanc, with another important yet largely unknown – Muscat d’Alexandrie, most common in the Hanepoot guise. Muscat adds perfume and delicate opulence to a broad and rich Chenin-base, and with careful cellaring, this wine will continue to evolve and reward.

Greg Sherwood says  “…incredibly restrained, elegant and fine with a growing salted tangerine peel complexity, white peach pastille, wet straw and a cool, restrained granitic finish. 93/100”