A rather rare, very unusual wine… Avon Clairette Blanche
AVON is the name of Isak Visagie’s farm on the slopes of the Olifantsberg in the Breedekloof Valley where uniWines of Rawsonville sources the Clairette Blanche grapes for one of their old vine projects, an experimental wine in the DaschBosch range. The farm had been planted mainly to Palomino (Frans druif) and Muscat d’Alexandrie (Hanepoot). It was in 1977 that Clairette Blanche was introduced by the Hugo family who sold the property to Visagie.
The variety was once regarded by some as best suited for fortified and distilling wine. The first vintage of it as a dry white wine under the Avon label was 2018, when the vineyard was already over 40 years old, having grown untended for decades before it was salvaged.
While now fairly scarce in South Africa, Clairette Blanche is widely grown in the French wine regions of Provence, the Rhône and the Languedoc. It has tended to be used in blends, some of the most renowned from Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the southern Rhône.
DASCHBOSCH AVON CLAIRETTE BLANCHE 2022
WO Breedekloof. A single Certified Heritage Vineyard: the bush vines planted in 1977. Grapes hand-picked during the early morning in March, whole-bunch pressed and settled for 24 hours. Fermentation in fourth-fill French oak barrels, the wine kept on the lees (spent yeast) for six months with regular bâtonage (stirring) and in barrel for up to nine months in total. 1600 bottles.
Alc 13.4 | RS 1.7 | TA 6.5 | pH 3.2
Producer’s Tasting Notes: Fresh, subtle leesy nose with greengage and citrus fruit on the palate. For enjoyment on release and for some years thereafter.
Food Pairing Suggestions: zesty salad, light meat dishes, seafood.
R350pb ex-cellar.
Also in this series:
• AA Badenhorst Sout van die Aarde Palomino
• Ayama Vermentino
• Bosman Nero (d’Avola)
• Kloovenburg Lledoner Pelut
• Lemberg Hárslevelü
• Lowerland Tolbos Tannat
• Lozärn Carménère
• Newton Johnson Albarino
• Stellenbosch Vineyards Ltd Release Therona
