PERSONAL NOTE

The name comes from the children who every year love to pick at the sweet berries and eat them, hence “sweet cheeks”.  Probably the most fragrant wine we make. Hanepoot (Muscat Alexandrie) is actually a table grape and meant for eating but we did an experiment in 2013 with skin contact to try and extract the flavour and it has made one of our most refreshing wines to drink.                       

NAME OF VIGNERON: Craig & Carla Hawkins

CELLAR LOCATION: Bandits Kloof, Eendekuil, Piketberg, Swartland

CLIMATE: Dry Mediterranean

TERROIR: Decomposed Granite, East facing, 200m above sea level, from the Paardeberg.

VITICULTURE

Organically farmed bush vines planted in the 1952, they are situated in a very “wet” part of the Paardeberg, at the bottom of the slope, and this helps with ripening the large berries fully. 2019 was a very healthy year and the skins were very healthy which helped with skin fermentation.

GRAPE: 100% Muscat d’Alexandrie

YIELDS: 25hl/ha

VINIFICATION:

Hand-harvested then fermented after being 100% Destemmed. Pressed after 10 days and matured in 500L old oak casks. No added yeast or acid. Full malolactic fermentation takes place. SO2 added a month before bottling, a light clarifying filtration, not fined.

TECHNICAL:

Alc            10.03%
TA            5.6g/l
pH            3.27
RS             1.7g/l
VA            0.49g/l
fSO₂         2 ppm
tSO₂         11ppm