Now rightly regarded as one of South Africa’s greatest white wines, the fruit for Boekenhoutskloof Semillon comes from three Certified Heritage Vineyards (certified by South Africa’s world-leading Old Vine Project), some of the oldest vineyards in the Cape: one planted in 1902 and one in 1942, both on very gentle slopes in the ancient Franschhoek Riverbed, and one planted in 1936 further up the valley on a 45-degree south-facing slope of decomposed granite and quartz soils. Some of the vines in these old vineyards have naturally mutated from Semillon to Semillon Gris, with a blushing hue, and take a little longer to ripen. As well as these three sources of Semillon, a drop of Muscat d’Alexandrie from 102-year-old vines is blended into the final wine for aromatic complexity. The fruit is whole-bunch pressed and spontaneously fermented in 225-litre barriques and concrete eggs before ageing for 14 months in new French oak barriques (70%) and in concrete eggs (30%). This oxidative approach – at low temperatures – enhances the beautiful texture of the old-vine Semillon. The Muscat d'Alexandrie is skin-fermented and matured in clay amphora.
