2023 Alheit "Hemelrand Vine Garden" White Field Blend Walker Bay

Professional Reviews

Notes

Founded in 2010 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Suzaan Alheit, Alheit Vineyards is a boutique South African winery perched on the Hemel-and-Aarde Ridge in Walker Bay. Their mission is to create wines with a strong “cape identity”, primarily sourcing grapes from old, dry-farmed bush vines. What sets Alheit apart is their deeply terroir-driven ethos. With vineyards across diverse sites such as the Paardeberg, Skurfberg, False Bay and Franschhoek, many of their vines are decades old and farmed without irrigation. In the cellar, they practice a “less is more” approach: whole-cluster pressing, native-yeast fermentations, no acidification, and maturation in neutral vessels rather than new oak—to preserve the character of the vineyard rather than impose a style. Their wines have become benchmarks for the new wave of South African white wine, offering precision, freshness and an expressiveness of place. The Hemelrand Vineyard is situated on the cold and windy Hemel & Aarde Ridge at 360 meters above sea level, on gravelly clay, and Sandstone. The vineyard was planted in 2010 to Chardonnay, Roussanne, Verdelho, Chenin Blanc, and Muscat Blanc a petit grain, all of which are included in the Vine Garden wine in proportions that vary each vintage.