Brash Higgins 2019 ‘CHN’ Chenin Blanc
Our fifth single vineyard Chenin Blanc at Brash Higgins. Handpicked fruit from a 30 year old vineyard overlaid with the deep white beach sands distinctive to the famous Blewitt Springs subregion of McLaren Vale. Blewitt Springs geology begins at the mouth of Maslin Beach (Australia’s first unclad beach) and runs some 30km up to the foothills of the Adelaide Hills. It’s essentially an ancient, 50 million year old dried up river estuary. The attempt every year with this wine is to capture some of the brininess and marine fossil notes from the sandy, coastal soils, thus transporting you to the oceanside. The grapes are fermented wild in neutral French barriques for 12 months to achieve this effect. Only 185 cases of this dry style CHN Chenin Blanc were produced. 2019 was a warm year, but we picked this before the heat to capture the fruits essential acidity.
The CHN 2019 label is a departure from past labels. It is a detail from an oil on linen painting by the gifted Sydney artist, Alesandro Ljubicic, called “Try To Be A Rainbow To Someone’s Cloud” @alesandroljubicic
‘A pale straw in hue, the wine is heady with Chenin perfume of honey, straw, celery, real lemonade and water chestnut. Soft entry with trim acidity, the wine tightens as it flows across the tongue revealing a lick of saline and oyster shell. Good natural acidity with a tractor beam of chalky, lemon pucker and notes of reglisse on the finish that pull you back for another look.’ – Brad Hickey, Vinitor, 09 November 2020.
Additional information
Harvest date: February 18, 2019
Hand picked
Vineyard: Willamba Hill Vineyard, Blewitt Springs
Grower: Dr. Grantly Gill
Viticulture: Sustainable
Geology: North Maslin Sands over ironstone/clay
Irrigation: Drip Irrigation
Altitude: 250 metres above sea level
Planted: 1990 on single cordon trellising
Days on skins: 2
Fermenter type: White Burgundy Barrel
Time in oak: 12 months
Oak origin: French
Oak age: 100% 6 year
Bottling date Jan 20, 2020
Closure: Stelvin +
100% Chenin Blanc
pH 3.51, TA 5.95 g/l, Alc 13.5%
185 cases
Price: $39 per bottle, $468 per 12 bottle case
