Drostdy Hof Adelpracht
This is the wine that sparked my question to you about whether or not you started your wine journeys with sweet wines. As well as my rant about sweet wines.
The Wine:
Medium amber in colour, with a scent that fills the room with evening honeysuckle and jasmine florals, tropical litchis and mangoes, ripe peaches and apricots, honey honey honey, plump yellow sultanas, and a bitterness...like raisin stems?
Medium sweet...or medium dry...who knows...it ain’t dry. Fuller bodied, bright acidity that’s just a little less than high, and low alcohol. Sweet tinned pineapples join the medley of ripe fruits. Things start to cross over to overripe fruits if you think too hard. But it’s the cooked bottled guava that keeps me coming back for more. There’s even a guava peel texture to it all. Obviously the flavours last and last...and just as you think you’re done, you find that it lingers still. It’s the reason you rarely need more than one glass. Aaaannnddd it doesn’t have that sticky cloying hurt my tongue because it’s so sweet quality of more luscious sweet wines where half a glass is enough.
Viti + Vini:
Mostly Chenin Blanc grapes sourced from bush vines (some dry farmed) and low-trellised vineyards in the Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Wellington and Malmesbury at altitudes from 90 to 160 metres.
Left on skins for a minimum of ten hours, then cleaned and inoculated. Fermentation was halted and the different batches were blended and stabilised before sterile bottling.
ABV: 11% | Residual Sugar: 68 g/l | Total Acidity: 6.2 g/l | pH: 3.3
Final Thoughts:
This wine was one of my first lessons in BLIC. ZAR59 from on the bottom shelf at Checkers supermarket, and with a label that makes me wonder if I’ve timewarped to the 80s. Yet...it consistently scores Very Good (to Outstanding when you’re feeling generous). It’s been a go-to wine pairing for dessert courses at home...it stands up to fresher fruit salads that are less sweet... and it adds layers of additional flavours to baked puddings and desserts. I kinda don’t recommend making a reduction it as it loses the fresh fruit profile - you’d be better off infusing it with fresh herbs or dried spices and spooning this over a souffle or waffles...both are tried, tested and approved!
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