Wines of the month: Our Chenin Blancs win at the 2024 Trophy Wine Show
The Painted Wolf Wines team is very chuffed to share that our flagship Lycaon Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2021 was judged as the top Old Vine Chenin Blanc at the highly prestigious 2024 Investec Trophy Wine Show, with an outstanding rating of 93 points. And, our just released Black Pack Chenin Blanc 2023 also has landed a prestigious Silver medal.
With just on 650 wines judged, the results once again reinforced the show’s reputation as the toughest competition in South Africa. Only 32 gold medals were awarded, and a mere 126 silver medals. Over the twenty years of the Trophy Wine Show’s existence, roughly half the wines entered have won no medal at all. The performance of our two Chenin Blanc wines is thus testimony to the specialisation we have brought to this cultivar over the past 17 years.
Enjoy our awarded Chenin Blancs. We are offering 15% off for the next two weeks only!
Click HERE to shop our wines online.
Introducing our new release: Black Pack Chenin Blanc 2023
An elegant wine, with an aroma of fresh bright peach, honeydew melon, citrus, straw and vanilla. The wine has a creamy finessed texture, evident new wood aromas and a lovely long finish with nice fresh acid keeping it bouncy and vibrant.
These Chenin Blanc grapes were harvested from 20-year-old bush vines in the Paardeberg area of the Swartland, vines of a similar age in Agter Paarl, and 43-year-old heritage vines from Wellington. A little Roussanne from the Paardeberg was added for finesse.
The fruit was harvested at a variety of sugar levels, between 22 and 23 balling, destemmed and settled before being fermented in barrel with natural wild yeast. We used 500- litre French oak barrels, with around 25% new super tight grain oak. The balance were older barrels. Fermentation was very slow.
With a small total production of just 2 700 bottles, move now to secure your allocation. Snooze and you'll lose!
Click HERE to buy Black Pack Chenin Blanc 2023.
Painted Wolf Wines honoured to be appointed partner to the Painted Wolf Foundation
The Painted Wolf Foundation (PWF) is the only Africa-wide organisation focused purely on the conservation of the African wild dog. It was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur and wildlife photographer Nick Dyer; painted wolf conservationist Peter Blinston; and leading wildlife conservation expert, the late Diane Skinner. Together they formed the PWF with the single aim of bringing a transformational change to the conservation of Lycaon Pictus. It is now implementing a continent-wide strategy to double the number of wild dogs in the next three decades. Its strategy is an actionable plan to remove the species from the real threat of extinction.
In just six years it has evolved and grown into an impactful organisation that last year invested over US$170 000 in various initiatives, including kickstarting 4 wild dog projects across Africa where no conservation previously existed. In that time Painted Wolf Wines has collaborated with them in various ways, and Nick has expressed admiration and support for our own mission of wines for conservation. We were thus delighted to be requested to formalise our relationship and become an official supporter and partner to PWF, working together to leverage the Painted Wolf name to the fullest extent. Look out for the PWF logo appearing on our bottles and website, and news on the raft of projects they are working on featuring in our newsletters and website.
Save the date of evening of Thursday 8 August for a wine and dogs engagement with Nick Dyer and Jeremy Borg, showcasing our partnership and the groundbreaking work being done by the Painted Wolf Foundation. More details will follow, but click HERE to ensure you receive a personal invitation.
Honeyguide tented safari camps
If you were surviving out in the wilds of Africa and were after some sugary sustenance, you’d know to keep an eye out for a remarkable little bushveld bird, known as a honeyguide. These birds are one of very few wild species to have a cooperative relationship with humans.
We can’t offer to lead you to a pot of honey, but we can encourage you to visit Manyeleti Game Reserve, a 23 000-ha wilderness area near the Kruger Park’s Orpen Gate where you will find two enchanting tented camps, namely Honeyguide Khoka Moya and Honeyguide Mantobeni.
These camps have much to offer guests, including bush walks, a swimming pool which is regularly visited by elephants seeking a refreshing drink – and a highlight for us, an extensive selection of Painted Wolf Wines - where we feature prominently on their wine list and food and wine pairing menu.
Follow the Honeyguide for a chance to raise your glass to Africa’s incredible wildlife – Conservation in every glass!
A reminder about our conservation hero promotion
From day one we’ve donated about 4% of the price of every bottle we’ve sold to organizations driving the conservation of endangered African wild dogs. Over R4 million so far, and we want that to grow that bigger and faster. We see it as an investment in the future of an icon species, and so we offer you the opportunity to make your own investment in both an icon range of wines and in becoming a Painted Wolf conservation hero.
Spend R5 000 or more and become a Painted Wolf conservation hero, with massive savings and other wild and exciting benefits.
Click HERE for details on how to become a Conservation Hero.
Photos: All photos in this article were taken by Nicholas Dyer.