Olifantsberg Soul of the Mountain The Matriarch 2023
£23.95
The wine
The Matriarch is the senior white in the Soul of the Mountain pair, drawn from the oldest Chenin on the mountain and given time to build. Depth and texture rather than obvious fruit, with the saline, mineral core that runs through everything Olifantsberg make and a finish that keeps going.
Soul of the Mountain is the flagship pair, made only in vintages that warrant them. The Matriarch is old-vine Chenin Blanc from the estate's best parcel, given careful barrel work. Chenin of this age and concentration is what has changed international opinion about South African white wine over the past two decades.
The producer
Olifantsberg
View all Olifantsberg winesOlifantsberg lies on the slopes of the Elephant Mountain in the Breedekloof, an inland valley in the Western Cape that has long supplied fruit to others and only recently begun making its name in its own right.
The estate's holdings climb the mountainside on decomposed shale and sandstone, and altitude is what makes the site work: the Breedekloof floor is hot, but these vineyards sit high enough to catch cooler air and hold their acidity. Winemaker Elizma Visser has built the range around Rhone varieties and old-vine Chenin Blanc, which is an unusual combination and a well-judged one for this ground.
South Africa's old Chenin plantings are among its greatest assets, dry-farmed bush vines that crop very little and give real concentration, and the Cape has more Chenin than the Loire itself. The Soul of the Mountain wines are the flagship pair, named The Matriarch and The Bull, and they are made only in vintages that warrant them.
