Olerasay Straw Wine NV (10's)

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Varietals: 100% Chenin Blanc

Wine of Origin: Swartland

Source of Grapes: Grapes are sourced from the parcels of old vine Chenin Blanc that give us the best acidity at harvest. The vines are planted in the stony Schist based soils of the Kasteelberg and the decomposed Granite based soils of the Paardeberg.

Winemaking: Grapes for our Olerasay Straw Wine are harvested at normal ripeness levels of 22 to 23° Brix and left to dry in the shade of some trees for a few weeks. This allows the moisture to evaporate naturally from the berries, concentrating sugars, acids and flavour. When the grapes have shriveled half way to becoming raisins they are crushed and pressed whole bunch into old 225L barrels. The juice ferments naturally for around 9 months and finishes on its own, with no fortification or filtration. We have been working on this Olerasay Straw Wine since our first vintage in 2008. Each vintage we have held back a barrel or two of the wine and blended them together, refreshing the Solera each year with the new vintages.

As we are legally not allowed to use the term Solera on the bottles, we named the wine Olerasay. We waited until the wine was complex and balanced enough to do a first bottling. Olerasay 1o is from barrels which have been fractionally blended f or the vintages 2008 through 2014 producing many layers of complexity, nuttiness and depth. We have only bottled a portion of the Solera, and have kept a portion back to continue adding to for decades to come. We will bottle a portion of the wine every 5 to 10 years or so.

Maturation: Old 225L French oak barrels

Tasting Note: Bright golden straw in colour, with a rich, viscous appearance. The nose and palate is a complex, enticing blend of dried peaches, apricots, honey and marmalade, with a savoury nuttiness. The intense mouthfeel is balanced by a clean, fresh and very long finish. The wine is best served chilled at 9 to 11°C.