The more wines I taste from 2021 in the Cape, the more I believe that this is truly one of the greatest vintages in South Africa’s modern history. For so many producers from so many diverse regions, from the Swartland to Stellenbosch, Elgin to the Hemel-en-Aarde, Paarl to the Klein Karoo, simply everyone seems to have made some exceptional white and red wines in this vintage. But the real clincher is when you talk to the winemakers themselves, whether they are the owners of their businesses and brands or merely working a day job, they all tell you that they don’t think they will make another vintage quite like 2021s in their careers, then you know that they certainly feel the conditions were not only unusual but also exceptional.

For Ian Naude, known to switch between Old Vine vineyards from year to year, he unusually decided to make not only his 2020 Chenin Blanc from this Old Vine Stellenbosch vineyard near the Blaauklippen Estate, but also decided to use this vineyard to make his 2021 vintage in this unusually cool growing season that saw a cold and wet climate with winter rainfall from May to June consistently above average. Cooler conditions significantly impacted the ripening process by slowing down the first half of the harvest before warmer conditions returned towards the end of harvest. In general, ripening was delayed by around 10 to 14 days compared to 2020, most notably among white cultivars, which displayed exceptionally low pH levels and high, bracing acids combined with low alcohols – a Naude wine lovers dream vintage?

With so much recent attention focused on Ian’s escapades up the Wes Kus with his Old Vine Langpad Colombard and his exceptional new Soutbos Old Vine Chenin Blanc / Colombard white blend, one can be forgiven for forgetting that Ian cemented much of his eminent white wine reputation with his maiden Naude Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2013, which still remains to this day, an iconic wine in the annals of Cape winemaking history. This phenomenal new 2021 could very well equal or surpass the heights of the 2013 given half a chance.

Naude Family Wines Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 12% Abv.

1.82g/l RS | 6.03g/l TA | 3.39pH

Few new wine releases from Ian Naude have created as much excitement as the new Old Vine Chenin Blanc from the 2021 vintage. Already being lauded as one of the most exceptional white and red wine vintages in South Africa in the past 20+ years, this delicious new white does not compromise this notion in any way. First tasted pre-release in March 2023, the wine was a little shy and retiring, giving mere hints of its ultra fine purity, tightly wound structure, its taut acid tension and glimmers of its incredibly harmonious, crystalline fruit concentration. This unusually cool and long vintage has allowed the vines to produce some pristine Chenin Blanc fruit that is undoubtedly sprinkled with more than a pinch of magic dust, boasting incredibly attractive aromatics of pear puree, white peach, crunchy Granny Smith apples, with dried hay, delicate dried baking herbs and an undeniable wet granite minerality. But it is on the palate where the true fireworks ignite, being packed full of piercing tart yellow peach, sour plum, quince and zesty green apple fruit concentration, all wrapped up in a tightly wound but subtle, nervy core of energy so powerful and intense it could be mainlined directly into the Cape Town power grid! Like all truly great wines, the 2021 achieves all its intensity and commanding focus with a supremely unobtrusive elegance, crystalline purity and harmonious synchronicity making this one of Ian’s greatest Chenin Blanc releases to date. Drink now and over the next 15 to 20 years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)