De Trafford's Chenin Blanc from Stanford 16 April 2006

What happened to it?

 

From Clive Sindelman:

De Trafford made a chenin blanc from the Walker Bay (Stanford) appellation in 2003 in addition to its Stellenbosch wine.The area was chosen because of the limestone soils the vines were planted in. They made it only once, however, and I am dying to find out why. When I tasted the wine just after release I was disappointed as the wine was a very awkward and unbalanced. But I cracked another over Easter and the ugly duckling has transformed into a beautiful swan that has to be one of the most elegant, textured, terroir expressive wines I have tasted in SA. Please find out from David why he aborted his experiment so early.

 

David Trafford replies:
This was the first vintage from a vineyard on Springfontein farm, who now produce wine under their own label [see their website]. I urged them (almost to the point of begging) to plant chenin, which they did - 1 hectare which is perhaps their most sought after block now . It was more of a favour (and of course intruiging for me) to produce some wine from this vineyard, which we did in 2003. It was never our intention to produce two Chenins, as we are essentially a Stellenbosch (or more specifically a Helderberg/Stellenbosch mountain) winery, producing wines specific to our area.

 

It has always frustrated me that all the exciting new cooler areas are being planted almost exclusively to sauvignon blanc and, while it may make a lot of commercial sense (and some of the wines are brilliant), it's a pity that SA's signature grape is not being more widely planted in interesting high quality areas - even if in tentative small blocks. So it was not that I was unhappy with the 'experiment'  – far from it. It is just that we don't want to expand our range unnecessarily and confuse customers, which even this one vintage seems to have done! What was most encouraging about this wine was that it was so good from a young vineyard and at quite high yields – about 10 tons/ha, I think. To date almost all the top Chenins come from 20+ year old vines.

 

We went on to produce the 2004 vintage for Springfontein, sold under their label - I think it got 4 stars in Platter [in fact Michael Fridjhon gives the wine 4+ stars for both the 2004 and 2005 vintages in the Platter guide - ed], as well as a little shiraz and pinotage for them. It so happens that I was at Springfontein recently to see their new cellar and taste their new wines, which look really impressive, including the chenin. They look to be really on the right track now. The vineyards have been well managed from the outset with regular advise from Schalk du Toit, who I think is quietly becoming one of the most sought after viticulturalists around.