Plat'Bos, Chenin Blanc, Swartland, 2024
Tighter and more linear and grippy as one would expect from this famously driven wine, which is an important base for the main Chenin Blanc label, the 2024 Plat Bos offers up an intense mix of fresh stone fruits, red berries and salty, chalky, lightly smoky leesy complexity. Picked over multiple passes with components ranging from 10-14% ABV, the final blend lands at just under 12% - remarkable given the intensity and complexity of the wine in the bottle. Plat Bos is a northwestern facing slope planted 1981 on pure decomposed granite. Just 2000 bottles produced.
critic reviews
The David & Nadia 2024 Swartland Plat'bos Chenin Blanc, meaning flat bush, is sourced from 5.5 hectares interplanted on R99 rootstock and carefully sorted to preserve clonal identity. Only 100 meters from neighboring Skaliekop, Plat'bos presents a markedly more mineral and saline profile. With a pH around 3.03.1 (a hallmark for age-worthy Chenin Blanc) its tight linear shape is defined by tension and clarity. Bone-dry fermentation without commercial yeast highlights the wine's elegant citrusy fruit tones and its saline finish. The sandy granite soils amplify its crystalline precision and smoky edges.
The 2024 Chenin Blanc Plat'bos is the first parcel picked. This has a taciturn bouquet at first, but opens with light beeswax and wet wool scents. The palate is taut and fresh, a linear Chenin with grapefruit and tangy orange rind notes towards the finish. Very fine, but it's unapologetically not a crowd pleaser.