Craven Wines, Chenin Blanc Karibib Vineyard (2021)

Chenin Blanc is a variety that Mick has always wanted to work with but was waiting for the right vineyard to land in his lap.  Toward the end of 2015, Mick came across the perfect site in the Polkadraai Hills, called the Karibib Vineyard.  Jozua Joubert planted the vineyard in 1982 on an east-facing block and has been working with the Cravens to bring it back to a more ‘natural’ state.  Initially trained on a single wire, it has been 'let go' over time and now grows more like a bush vine.  Mick refers to it as a "faux bush vine" vineyard.  The vineyard sits in a unique pocket is characterized by hilly topography and subsequently varying elevations, providing sites on elevations from 200 to 1,300 feet above sea level.  Aside from the differences in elevation, the layered soils vary from granite-based on the higher elevations to the lighter, more sandy soils in lower lying areas.  2018 was the last in the true ‘drought’ years and there weren’t any crazy heat spikes during the summer, thu