WINE: Naud Langpad 2022
BACKSTORY : Read RATINGS | The weightless intensity of Ian Naud 's wines
Varieties: Colombard 100%
Fruit source: Vredendal, West Coast, planted 1983
Alc: 11 %
Total Acid: 6.6 g/L
Residual Sugar: 1.2 g/L
pH: 3.58
Climate / Season:
A cool season and moderate weather conditions in most regions during harvest time slowed down ripening, which gave vines the opportunity to develop stunning flavour and colour. Harvest time was delayed by 10 to 14 days this year. The 2022 wine crop is more than 5% less than the 2021 season, but still larger than the five-year average. Early cultivars were harvested at good flavour and sugar concentrations, with lower acidity and higher pH. Later cultivars benefited from dry, moderate temperatures during ripening, which led to full ripening at good sugar and alcohol levels. As there is no mountains or hills in that area, a salty air blows in from the ocean - roughly 35km away - during the evening. This creates a fogginess that lingers during the night and when the sun rises the next morning, a Kelpy seaspray gets left behind and eventually gets dried by the hot sun on the vines.
Winemaking & Vinification:
Arriving in South Africa in the early 1700's, Colombard (or Colombar as pronounced by some locals), became a variety that few talk about yet many often drank some form of it, as it was mostly used for distilling. Showing an interest in varietals grown in the West Coast, I discovered Colombard. I believe that old vineyards have their own story to tell, and Colombard is no exception. My job is to bottle that story. The soil is 100% sand and with that comes the opportunity to make use of flood-irrigation whereas the whole vineyard gets flooded, allowing the water to filter down through the sand into the deep roots of the vine. Picked in small crates, from the truck and straight into whole-bunch pressing. Natural fermentation started after about 3 days. Thereafter wine was kept on the lees for as long as possible, because that is where the "magic" happens as complex flavours and texture develops. Because nature has already done the work, the winemaking process is kept as natural as possible with minimal interference.
Tasting Notes:
We are amazed at how classic this cultivar can present itself, beginning with a gorgeous white crisp peach and pear on the nose, finishing with that saline salty freshness.
Ratings
95 Points - Greg Sherwood MW
"I remember tasting this wine after fermentation in March 2022 and thinking that this wine was, yet again, something very special. Despite being an exceptional and intuitive winemaker, Ian Naude has continued to learn, building his old vine Colombard knowledge vintage to vintage, and in this exceptional third vintage, he has captured something very close to the true essence of this barren old vine Koekenaap West Coast vineyard that I finally visited in October 2022. For a young Colombard vintage, the 2022 seems more serious, more mineral and stonier, with less of the crème soda and green rock candy notes that initially tend to dominate the aromatics before blowing off to reveal the true coastal maritime salinity. There is a pronounced wet grey slate and petrichor note over hints of peach stone, lime blossom, rock salt and crunchy green pear. The palate is every bit as pleasing when I tasted the freshly fermented wine out of tank, with a rich, dense, glycerol mouthfeel packed full of salty white peaches, green apple, sour pear drops and a wet river pebble minerality. The lees ageing in tank has added a fabulous extra textural dimension and depth that plays synergistically to this grape variety's true characteristics. Simply delicious. Drink this on release and over the next 10 to 12+ years."
