Cederberg Chenin Blanc 2025, Cederberg Mountains, South Africa

Cederberg Chenin Blanc comes from the Nieuwoudt family’s estate vineyards on the farm Dwarsrivier, at the foot of the Sneeuberg mountain in the Cederberg, about 200 km north of Cape Town. These are among the highest vineyards in the Western Cape, at roughly 950 to 1,100 metres, where a cool climate and big drops in temperature on summer nights keep the grapes fresh. The vines grow on well-drained soils of weathered shale and slate on the hillsides and mountain slopes. The grapes are hand-picked in the early morning and handled reductively, with five to eight hours’ skin contact before a light pressing. The juice ferments at 11°C for around 24 days, and the wine then spends four months on its fine lees before bottling.

It is a fragrant, fresh white. The nose offers winter melon, stone fruit and broad tropical notes, with green apple, pear, passion fruit and a hint of fresh herbs. The palate is refreshing and fruit-forward, with medium body and lively Chenin acidity keeping the fruit in check, finishing crisp, clean and dry with a lingering note of apple.

Serve chilled but not too cold, at around 10–12°C, so the fruit can show. It pairs well with goat’s cheese, feta, grilled sea bass, vegetable quiche, Greek salad, chicken curry and Asian dishes with lemongrass. Drink within one to three years, while it is fresh and fruity.

Cederberg Wines is the Nieuwoudt family estate on the farm Dwarsrivier, high in the Cederberg mountains of South Africa’s Western Cape, where the family has farmed since 1893. The first wine vines were planted in 1973, and fifth-generation winemaker David Nieuwoudt took over the cellar in the late 1990s. The home vineyards, at roughly 950 to 1,100 metres, are among the highest in the Western Cape and are farmed sustainably with minimal chemical intervention. Of the farm’s 5,500 hectares only 74 are under vine; most of the land is set aside for conservation as part of the Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor, and the estate is a WWF Conservation Champion. In 2007 David also created Ghost Corner, a range of cool-climate wines from vineyards in Elim, near Cape Agulhas.