Now in Stock: de Trafford Chenin Blanc
De Trafford Winery is situated on the beautiful Mont Fleur farm set at the top of a dramatic valley above Stellenbosch, 380m up between the Stellenbosch and Helderberg mountains, right at the end of the Blaauwklip road, between Stellenbosch and Somerset West.
The history of wine growing on this mountain farm started with the purchase of the property in 1976 by the Trafford family as inaccessible grazing land. Many of the high-altitude slopes were deemed suitable for high-quality red grape varieties. Unfortunately, due to the absurd quota restrictions, planting a commercial vineyard had to wait 18 years. In 1983 a small vineyard was established to produce experimental wines - consumed by family and friends! These were learning curve years (1984 - 1991), which included lots of help and advice from local winemakers and working experience in France, particularly in the Bordeaux area.
David Trafford, owner & winemaker (and member of the Cape Winemaker's Guild since 2000), qualified as an Architect from the University of Cape Town in 1988 and worked as a full-time Architect until 1994. David traded architecture for Wine & Wife by leaving work and marrying Rita, a qualified chef and aspiring artist. Living in the middle of the vineyard and close to the winery, they watch over all aspects of the business and they tell us:
"In 1995 we decided to produce a serious quality barrel fermented Chenin Blanc, which was unusual at the time, as Chenin Blanc was not considered a high-quality grape. We have so many great old Chenin Blanc vineyards in our area, we decided not to plant any ourselves and work closely with 3 growers to produce great fruit. Vine age varies between 10 and 45 years.
All our Chenin is carefully handpicked in the morning, crushed and given a little skin contact to extract some of the flavour just under the skins, before pressing in our traditional basket press.
After a natural settling, all the wines ferment in barrels in our cool underground cellar. We only use natural, indigenous yeast with all our wines, but it makes the biggest positive difference with the Chenin Blanc as it remains on the lees for around 9 months, soaking up the complex flavour. Like all our wines, the Chenin Blanc is bottled without filtration to capture all the subtle flavours we've worked so hard for.”
TASTING NOTES:
Light yellow, straw colour. Quince, lemon, honey and dusty apricot nose with floral aspects complimenting. Fruit a little more expressive than most, but a nice mineral aspect too. A layered substantial palate with dusty apricot flavours typical of our Chenins and the usual long, elegant finish. Excellent with most fish dishes, shellfish and sushi. Drink now to 2026.
ANALYSIS
ALC. 14.15 % SUGAR: 2.6g/l TA: 4.7g/l pH: 3.5 VA: 0.72 g/l SO2 9 free & 84 total.
Parking at Wine & Co
There should always be an empty parking space in the corner next to our shop, but if not please feel free to stop directly in front of our shop while you are with us - this will save you time driving around looking for a parking space.
We are open every day of the year!
- Monday to Saturday: 9am - 6pm.
- Sunday + Public holidays: 10am - 4pm.
About Us
Have you ever heard about a great wine but could never find a bottle for yourself (to share with friends, of course)? Well, the team at Wine & Company does all the hard work for you! We visit wine farms and attend tastings to find, taste, and then stock wine from the smaller Estates and independent winemakers who buy grapes and produce outstanding wine under their own labels – much the same as the French negociants have been doing for centuries. Given that these winemakers make wine in such small quantities, sometimes just a single barrel, their wine will never be found on the shelves of the major retailers, but only in specialist shops like Wine & Company on High Street, Hermanus.
In addition to the great selection of well-known wines and MCC's, we also stock local craft gin and beer, French Champagne, Belgian Ales as well as whisky and other spirits. Wine & Company (established in 1998 by Bartho Eksteen) has a well-earned reputation for stocking hard-to-find small-batch wines and we strive to continue this great tradition. If you purchase a bottle of wine from us and it is faulty we will gladly replace the bottle and return the faulty wine to the winemaker.
Feel free to contact Wine & Company if you need a particular wine and we will do our best to source it for you. We are also able to ship wine locally and to most countries so do ask about international shipping.
Shop Online!
Please note that our website does not show the complete range of wine that we have in stock, so please do contact us if you are looking for something not listed online, especially those that are 'allocation' only.
We offer free delivery in and around Hermanus, and free shipping to major centres around South Africa for orders over R1600. Please contact us for international shipping rates.
A reminder of our website: www.wineandco.co.za/shop or scan the Wine and Co QR code to go directly to our shop:
