| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | South Africa |
| Colour | White |
| Type | Still |
Sailing majestically into its third vintage, this comes from a vineyard planted on the Paardeberg in 1969 that's called La Rhine. Entirely fermented in a concrete egg, it has mouth-watering freshness and focus, layers of aniseed, lime and lemon juice, salty minerality
and a tapering finish that lingers on the tongue. 2025-32.
With vines on granite soils, the Rall 2023 Swartland Chenin Blanc Noa comes from very old drought-resistant vines planted in 1969. This wine is not marketed as a single-vineyard expression, although that's exactly what it is. With this exceptional creation, vintner Donovan Rall sought to explore the "spirit of granite," as he says. He makes one concrete egg and a production of 1,800 bottles. The vineyard is just over two hectares and is located around the corner from Andrea Mullineux. This wine delivers a more powerful tannic bite that adds a spectacular level of crispness that is transmitted across star fruit, unripe peach and sliced red apple. With old-vine Chenin Blanc, you sometimes get a hint of rémoulade or celery root and a hint of bitterness. This wine shows a dry, pithy finish, a telltale sign of old-vine Chenin Blanc. This is the third vintage made. Donovan Rall's youngest daughter, Noa, was born in 2020, and the first vintage of the wine named in her honor was made in 2021. The style is inward-looking and reductive in personality, but it also has a lot of inner energy for long cellar-aging potential. This is one seriously beautiful wine. Drink 2025-2038.
Grapes from a Paardeberg vineyard on granite. Matured in concrete egg. Compelling and strikingly distinct aromatics of pear, peach and lime plus some flinty reduction while the palate is wonderfully well delineated with zesty acidity and a super-dry finish. Linear, taut and absolutely mouth-watering.
Very pure and fresh, showing aromas of lemon rind, sliced apples, honeycomb and wild green herbs. Precise on the palate with a medium body and vibrant acidity. Tight structure. Better after 2025.
A singular wine, Noa is a Chenin that is laser-focused and on the edge of ripeness. Lightly reductive and bursting with energy, the fruit has a green edge and is very, very lively, almost effervescent in its brightness. The palate is sapid, sinewy and focused, a line of apples, lemons and greegage all driving with linear focus. This wine needs time, but it has the pithy textural tannins to age gracefully. Intense and vertical, I'm excited to see what happens to this wine as it ages.
