Boekenhoutskloof Semillon 2022

Boekenhoutskloof is a Franschhoek estate in the Western Cape South Coast, and this single-variety Semillon draws mainly on one of South Africa's oldest vineyards, dating to 1902, with further fruit from plots planted in 1936 and 1942. The old vines root into alluvial soils carrying a high marl content, which holds water through the dry Cape summer and keeps the low yields concentrated. Vine age of this order gives small berries and the deep phenolic complexity that separates serious Semillon from the ordinary. The grapes are pressed as whole bunches, and the wine spends fourteen months in French oak barrels. That long élevage, with the wine resting on its lees, feeds the barrel oxygen exchange and lees autolysis that build waxy texture and weight while softening the acidity. The colour is bright gold. The nose leads with ripe apricot, beeswax and acacia blossom lifted by honey, and the palate is broad and lanolin-textured, carrying white peach and lemon over a saline, oak-framed finish that stays long and savoury. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees in a full white glass.