Alheit Vineyards : Hemelrand Vine Garden 2024

Tasting Notes and Serving Tips for Hemelrand Vine Garden 2024 from Alheit Vineyards

Tasting

Nose
The nose is vibrant and exotic, revealing musky apricot aromas alongside powdery talc notes. Scents of fresh apple and lime complete this expressive, complex bouquet.

Palate
The attack evokes the purity of a stony mineral water, followed by an enveloping texture that fills the palate. The lively, taut acidity provides structure and creates remarkable tension, giving the wine its distinctive character and great freshness.

Food and Wine Pairing

This wine is ideally enjoyed as an aperitif with friends. Its powerful structure, high acidity and complex aromatic range also allow it to pair with delicate yet structured dishes.

Serving and Cellaring

Hemelrand Vine Garden 2024 can already be enjoyed now for its radiant freshness, but it will gain complexity and harmony with a few years of cellaring. Its aging potential extends to around 2034, and depending on storage conditions, even to 2042.

A great South African white wine with precisely honed energy

The estate

Founded at the end of 2011 by Chris and Suzaan Alheit, Alheit Vineyards settled on Hemelrand Farm in the Walker Bay region, in the heart of the Western Cape. The vineyard covers 21 hectares, spread across eight separate parcels in the Western Cape. The couple pursues a radically minimalist philosophy: dry-farmed old vines, natural winemaking with no additions, spontaneous fermentations and aging on the lees. Their approach celebrates the authenticity of South Africa’s terroirs, working primarily with Chenin, Sémillon, Chardonnay and Roussanne.

The vineyard

The vineyard from which Hemelrand Vine Garden comes is located on Hemel & Aarde Ridge at an altitude of 360 meters in the Walker Bay region. It was planted in 2010 by winegrower Hans Evenhuis and lies on gravelly clay soils rich in sandstone. This cold, windy site with borderline conditions promotes slow ripening of the grapes and the development of naturally high acidity—the unmistakable hallmark of this exceptional terroir of the Western Cape.

Vinification and aging

Harvest in the early morning. The grapes for Hemelrand Vine Garden 2024 are selected in the vineyard and then whole-bunch pressed. The slightly cloudy must is fermented without any additions in old barrels of varying sizes. Spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts lasts about two months. The wine then ages for 12 months on the lees in barrel, followed by 6 months on fine lees in stainless steel tanks. No fining is carried out, preserving the wine’s integrity and authenticity.

Grape varieties

This white wine from South Africa is a blend of Roussanne (32%), Chardonnay (28%), Chenin Blanc (25%), Verdelho (11%), Muscat (4%).