Chenin & Pinotage
Timed Online Auction, 4 - 11 September 2023
Chenin & Pinotage
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
Chris and Suzanne Alheit set the wine world on fire with their maiden 2011 Cartology receiving 96 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Aiming to harness the best old vineyards across the Cape, the Cartology offered a textured old-vine Chenin Blanc Semillon blend with startling purity and depth. Passionate and focused on the expression of place, tiny, long-forgotten parcels were added to the range, and are today South Africa’s most profound white wines. We auction maiden vintages of Magnetic Makstok on the legendary ‘Skurfkop’ in the Citrusdal area, Huilkrans in the Paardeberg, La Colline in Franschhoek, and, extremely rare Radio Lazarus in Stellenbosch.
Setting the wine world on fire with their maiden 2011 Alheit Vineyards Cartology release, husband and wife team Chris and Suzaan Alheit set out to harness the best old vineyards across the Cape. With a passionate and detailed focus on expression of place, sourcing tiny, long-forgotten parcels of predominantly white grapes, today they produce South Africa’s most profound white wines.
The 2017 was the last vintage of this wine released.
Provenance
Wine Cellar Private Client
Critics Ratings
‘Swansong for this label: old Bottelary vines no longer viable. 2017 great aromatic breadth but also mineral tension, vigour in its concentrated, reverberating flavours. Lovely textural quality from ferment/ageing in 100% (Bottelary) clay pots.’ - Platter’s SA Wine Guide 2019, 4.5* (93/100)
‘Get out your handkerchiefs, as they say in France, because 2017 may be the last ever vintage of this incredible wine after the extreme drought of 2018. If so, it’s a good note on which to end. Dense, compact and super concentrated, with stony grip and the acidity of a late-picked site, complemented by aromas from the wild fynbos that surrounds it. RIP, Radio Lazarus. 2020-29.’ - Tim Atkin SA Special Report 2018, 96/100
‘The terroir in the Alheit wines shows through with the 2017 Radio Lazarus. Beyond the classic Chenin Blanc expressions of yellow apple, Meyer lemon and lanolin, there is a cheese rind aspect that lingers on the palate. The depth and breadth are evident once the wine hits the palate. Alheit knows exactly what they are doing with these wines, which turn out as focused Chenin with precision and minerality. The fruit is woven into a textural sensation that lifts the dusty white minerality, which may have been lent from the clay pots the wine was aged in. No oak was used for this wine. In short, this is a cerebral, medium-bodied wine that has texture and a lively tension, ending with a long mineral-driven finish. Only 165 cases were made, and it's worth the money.’ - Anthony Mueller, Wine Advocate, 93+/100 (Oct 2019)
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