A Morning With Chris Alheit

The backdrop of Chris's cellar at Hemelrand

"We aim to make wines that have a fine form and are not bulky. Nobody likes to fight their way through a massively rich, boozy, flabby, beast of a wine. We hope to craft wines that have ample power, but no excess weight - something akin to a gymnast, rather than a sumo wrestler." 
http://www.alheitvineyards.co.za/home/

Chris Alheit makes wine with his wife, Suzaan, in a beautiful cellar situated high up on the Hemel & Aarde Ridge, Walker Bay. They only release white wines, and are most renowned for 'Cartology', a blend of Chenin Blanc and Semillion from vineyards that are cherry-picked across the Western Cape. For these vineyards, Chris looks for old, dry farmed, bush vines and stresses the importance of the 'site' in his wines. 

The wines are made as naturally and with as little intervention as possible, with nothing except a small amount of sulfur added at bottling. All the wines are aged in old oak or clay, with Chris making his views on new oak very clear: "new oak is the most expensive way to ruin a wine".

We tasted through the individual barrels from the differing vineyards. It was fascinating to see the idiosyncrasies of each site and the difference they make to the final blend. 

Uitsig 

The name of this vineyard means 'outlook', and it is a granitic soil based vineyard in the Paardeberg. The citrus and pineapple fruit flavours were extremely concentrated, the purity of fruit really shone. There was also an unusual aroma to the wine I couldn't put my finger on, Chris described it as "dusty cupboard" and who am I to argue? 

Makstok

Meaning 'ungrafted vines'. It is a vineyard in the Skurfberg mountain, an area that has become famous due to the quality of its Chenin Blanc. The soils are red in colour and high in iron, with a layer of gravel on top of clay. Chris highlighted the importance of soil. saying "the soils have a huge effect, though I'm not exactly sure why". The wine showed notes of grapefruit, lemon peel and peach, and sparkled with a remarkable, driving acidity, resulting from an earlier than usual harvest. This is also released as a stunning single vineyard bottling.

Langbene

Meaning 'long legged'. From 33yr old vines with a schist soil base. This was the latest harvest out of all the barrels as the vineyard tends to ripen slowly. The wine had a delicate, feminine nose with notes of lime blossom and citrus fruits.

Radio Lazarus

Like the Makstok, this is also a single vineyard release. It comes from a Stellenbosch vineyard that is split into two segments 600m apart, separated down the middle by a gulley. Each part is aged in a clay pot that is made locally, in Haut's Bay. The vineyard is 2.2 hectares in size and produces tiny yields from the dry bush vines. The wine was buzzing with ripe apple, pineapple and candied fruits with a tight structure.

Clay pots used to age the wine

La Colline

A blend of Semillion Blanc (94%) and Semillion Gris (6%), intended for a single vineyard release. Out of the barrel it was oniony and reductive. It showed the frailty and ever-changing nature of wine; as Chris said "it's a wine, not Coke". He's confident it will work itself out and calm down before bottling. 

After tasting through the barrels, we sat down to taste Chris's latest releases in bottle.

Chris preparing the bottle tasting

Cartology 2014

The bottle hadn't yet been labelled, so no picture. 89% Chenin Blanc, 11% Semillion. The Semillion comes from vines that are 80 years old, though the age of the vines isn't as important to Chris as the site they come from. Wonderfully complex, the wine had a touch of cantaloupe and peach stone on the nose with succulent honeysuckle and tangerine following through on the palate. A comprehensive, bright wine, with a beautiful concentration of flavour.

Radio Lazarus 2014

Delicate blossom and white pepper on the nose, the wine became fuller and richer on the palate. Ripe tropical fruits, soft mango and pineapple added a juicy weight and depth. Wonderfully textured, rich and creamy with a fresh acidity to create balance.

Magnetic North Makstok

Such an intriguing wine. Layer after layer of flavour bursts from the glass, elderflower and citrus fruits mingle with powerful, earthy fynbos and swathes of honey are cut through by an electric acidity. The wine is intense but retains a delicate nature; it is stunning.

Arrowheart Semillion 2014

Bronze in colour, the wine displays an unusual savoury nose. There is caramel and toffee, and also notes of Parmesan cheese. The palate is dominated by fleshy, palatial red apple and tangerine and is nicely rounded on the finish.

_____________________________________________________________________

Chris is a perfectionist, this quality comes through in his wines, from the site selection right through to the final packaging. This is something I found out first hand. Chris seals his bottles with wax, he blends different colours to ensure he gets the perfect shade and he also adds beeswax to get the right consistency. The wax is melted in a 6l slow cooker, and all the seals are done by hand.

Chris let me try my hand at sealing a bottle, and it is much harder than it looks. Despite the tricky technique, I gave it my best shot and was pleasantly surprised at the result.

Chris however, was not as impressed. My attempt wasn't good enough to be labelled and sold. Unfortunately I had no choice but to take it home and drink it.


http://www.alheitvineyards.co.za/home/
@bobbyfishel