Brookdale Sixteen
R380
Per Bottle
At Brookdale, we seek to explore our terroir not only with a site-specific approach, but also a vintage-specific one. The Brookdale Sixteen Field Blend exemplifies this mission. Tim Rudd is fascinated with the art of true field blends where grapes are ‘blended’ in the ‘field’, rather than grown and vinified separately before blending. In South Africa, field blends are typically different varieties grown in the same vineyard block, but kept separate in rows.
That’s not how we did it…
Out of stock
Door to door in South Africa. Estimated 5 - 10 working days.
THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS
What customers & critics are saying
Like a meadow in spring, the wine is aromatically diverse with an enveloping texture and clean finish.
MALU LAMBERT
WINE WRITER, 2022
The first chapter in a long held dream to recapture the lost art of field blend wine making, in a South African context.
TIM RUDD
PROPRIETOR, 2022
The finish being grippy and dry but not excessively so. Without being overly forceful, it still instantly captures your attention.
CHRISTIAN EEDES
WINE JOURNALIST, 2022
TASTING NOTES
Unmasked, crushed stones unspool while limey, powdered chalk rides a wave of white citrus and white pear, underpinned by subtle oak spice. On the palate, the sensational white fruit continues. The mineral structure presents vertical and endless, enlivened by soft buoyant acids and a mouth-coating citrus purity. The finish is luminous, with a real granitic freshness.
WINEMAKING
From old vine Chenin Blanc (1985) grown on decomposed shale and granite; minimal winemaking was employed to allow this stony terroir to shine through. The grapes were hand-picked at different stages to achieve optimal ripeness and balance. The fruit was pre-cooled and gently whole-bunch pressed before spontaneous fermentation and partial malolactic fermentation added elegance, and complexity. Matured for 12 months in a combination of 225L, 300L and 500L French oak barrels, the wine was then aged on the lees for 10 months in 2500L Foudre barrels. Once bottled, the wine was left to mature for a further four months before release..
