Boschkloof Kottabos Chenin Blanc

Kottabos is a Greek drinking game of the highest skill – where after many glasses of wine one elegantly flings the leftover lees from naturally unfiltered wine toward predetermined targets in the room with fellow drinking friends. In this case, ‘Kottabos’ is a small side project from Reenen Borman of Boschkloof in which he experiments with more adventurous winemaking techniques on grapes grown in the Polkadraai Hills. In 2020 Reenen wanted to get even a bit more experimental and produced one barrel of skin fermented Chenin from the Karibib Vineyard. The results were positive, and this spicy and textured wine is now in its third iteration.

The Chenin was handpicked exclusively from the ‘Karibib Vineyard’ in the Polkadraai Hills and entirely fermented whole-bunch in an open-top stainless steel fermenter. Reenen hand-plunged the clusters throughout the course of each day for 6 days. He then pressed the juice to a single neutral 500L French puncheon to finish fermentation and mature on the lees. Following 10 months aging, the wine was bottled directly from barrel with just a light sheet filtration and small sulfur addition. No fining.

Tasting Notes: The nose opens with aromas of honey, baking spices, and sun-soaked hay bales. Ripe citrus fruit, chamomile, and hints of sushi ginger are evoked on the palate, which is beautifully balanced and textured. The finish is slightly grippy and unfurls for quite some time.

Organic, Vegan, Natural Wine