2022 Huilkrans

As has become tradition, I tasted Chris Alheit’s latest releases with Peter-Allen Finlayson (Crystallum and Gabriëlskloof) and John Seccombe (Thorne & Daughters). Together, they make a riotous trio so that when I ask them to recreate the boyband pose that I saw on social media a few months ago, they instantly and disturbingly naturally adopt that slightly pretentious, faraway look and gestures of N*SYNC or New Kids on the Block. So, maybe there’s another vocation should winemaking go to pot, but judging by the quality of wines, there’s little to no chance of that happening. Alheit continues to expand his operation and told me that he had recently bought a farm with 22 hectares of vines. However, 16 hectares of that require replanting, Alheit stressing that he would never include fruit from young vines in his Cartology cuvée. His 2022s have spent just shy of a year on the lees and were all bottled in June 2023. “There’s a lot more juice in the cellar. I pressed just under 200 tons,” he explains. “We went from 1.3 tons/ha to 3.0tons/ha.” The samples that I tasted had been opened the previous day and by all accounts, had retained all of their freshness and vitality (as an aside, Alheit’s reductive approach means that I always give them a long decant). As expected, it’s a typical strong range from Alheit in 2022, and as usual, these are wines that are as much about texture as aromas and/or flavors, reminiscent of say, Eben Sadie’s “Old Vine Series.” The white blend that forms Hemelrand Vine Garden is an absolute peach, while his Fire By Night and Nautical Blend demonstrate what Chenin Blanc is capable of from the right terroir in the hands of a dedicated winemaker. Alheit mentioned that obtaining acidity in his Cartology was difficult in this vintage. Still, his struggle was not in vain, even if I err towards his single vineyard cuvées in 2022.