Alheit Vineyards 'Cartology' Bush Vines 2022

“‘It was a vintage that gave you the chance to show what you were made of,’ says Chris Alheit of the ‘middling 2022 growing season’. It certainly did. This is a brilliant cuvée of Chenin Blanc with 8% Semillon, sourced from ten different vineyards. Showing lots of energy from early picked grapes on granite soils, it has fennel, fynbos and lanolin aromas, citrus, green herb and wet stone flavours, and good ageing potential, despite the heat of the vintage ” – 95 points Tim Atkin, MW::

Cartology is a vinous exploration of Cape heritage. It’s intended to be a picture of the Cape seen through the lens of her old vineyards in a given vintage. The cuveé is composed of rare and extraordinary parcels of mature dry-land bush-vines, of heritage grapes, namely Chenin Blanc and Sémillon. These grapes have been planted in the Cape for centuries. Cartology has become the staple offering. It serves as a poster child for the project, and also seems to have become a flag bearer for Cape heritage wine in general.

Cartology 2022 is 92% Chenin blanc and 8% Sémillon. The Chenin comes from parcels in the Skurfberg, Malmesbury, Perdeberg, Bottelary, Upper Blaauwklippen, False Bay and Tygerberg. The Sémillon comes from the old La Colline block in Franschhoek