Alheit Vineyards
Alheit Vineyards is a family-run business founded in 2010 by Chris and Suzaan Alheit, a couple who started their ambitious winemaking project in the Paardeberg area of South Africa. Chris and Suzaan's goal is to give voice to the identity and winemaking tradition of Cape, enhancing old vines scattered throughout the territory, grown as bush vines and cultivated without irrigation. The couple met and fell in love during their studies at Stellenbosch University, and after a series of travels where they gained experience in viticulture, they finally decided to embark on their own journey.
In addition to owning their own vineyards in the Paardeberg area, located in the Swartland region, Chris and Suzaan Alheit of Alheit Vineyards collaborate with trusted growers in managing vineyards from which they obtain part of the grapes for their labels. In general, these are cultivated with great care, using techniques such as mulching, cover cropping, and fertilization. Among the areas where the growers with whom the Alheit couple collaborates operate are Olifants River, Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, Franschhoek
and Overberg. Suzaan and Chris then work with various grape varieties, such as Chenin Blanc, Sémillon, Chardonnay, Roussanne, Verdelho, and Muscat Blanc à Petit Grain, varieties that grow in very diverse soils and altitudes. The harvest is done entirely by hand in boxes, while the winemaking approach aims to express the purest essence of the territory, which is why the use of selected yeasts, enzymes, acidifications, new woods, clarifications, and any other invasive practices and manipulations that may interfere with the authenticity of the wine is banned in the winery. In particular, the pressing of the grapes is done gently as whole clusters and, without additions, the must undergoes spontaneous alcoholic fermentation in concrete eggs, terracotta amphorae, or old wooden barrels of various sizes. The maturation phase lasts at least 12 months and takes place on the fine lees in the same types of winemaking containers.The white wine represents the core of Alheit Vineyards' production, with labels that are configured as expressions of the different territories from which the grapes vinified by Chris and Suzaan come.In general, these wines manage to beautifully combine richness and freshness, elements that derive in part from the advanced age of the vines and in part from the peculiar pedoclimatic characteristics of the vineyards.
Alheit Vineyards is a family-run business founded in 2010 by Chris and Suzaan Alheit, a couple who started their ambitious winemaking project in the Paardeberg area of South Africa. Chris and Suzaan's goal is to give voice to the identity and winemaking tradition of Cape, enhancing old vines scattered throughout the territory, grown as bush vines and cultivated without irrigation. The couple met and fell in love during their studies at Stellenbosch University, and after a series of travels where they gained experience in viticulture, they finally decided to embark on their own journey.
In addition to owning their own vineyards in the Paardeberg area, located in the Swartland region, Chris and Suzaan Alheit of Alheit Vineyards collaborate with trusted growers in managing vineyards from which they obtain part of the grapes for their labels. In general, these are cultivated with great care, using techniques such as mulching, cover cropping, and fertilization. Among the areas where the growers with whom the Alheit couple collaborates operate are Olifants River, Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, Franschhoek
and Overberg. Suzaan and Chris then work with various grape varieties, such as Chenin Blanc, Sémillon, Chardonnay, Roussanne, Verdelho, and Muscat Blanc à Petit Grain, varieties that grow in very diverse soils and altitudes. The harvest is done entirely by hand in boxes, while the winemaking approach aims to express the purest essence of the territory, which is why the use of selected yeasts, enzymes, acidifications, new woods, clarifications, and any other invasive practices and manipulations that may interfere with the authenticity of the wine is banned in the winery. In particular, the pressing of the grapes is done gently as whole clusters and, without additions, the must undergoes spontaneous alcoholic fermentation in concrete eggs, terracotta amphorae, or old wooden barrels of various sizes. The maturation phase lasts at least 12 months and takes place on the fine lees in the same types of winemaking containers.The white wine represents the core of Alheit Vineyards' production, with labels that are configured as expressions of the different territories from which the grapes vinified by Chris and Suzaan come.In general, these wines manage to beautifully combine richness and freshness, elements that derive in part from the advanced age of the vines and in part from the peculiar pedoclimatic characteristics of the vineyards.
