Spice Route Chakalaka Swartland 2022
This wine is deep ruby in colour. On the nose, spicy aromas mingle with blackcurrant, cherry and plum fruit. Full-bodied and rich, the palate displays well-integrated oak and smooth, structured tannins. Chakalaka, a Zulu word that implies togetherness, refers to a South African blend of spices, used to add flavour to local dishes. This wine is inspired by the unique combination of flavours.
Chakalaka is Spice Route's signature wine. It is a blend of six different grape varieties. The varieties for this vintage: Grenache, Carignan, Durif, Mourvèdre, Shiraz and Tannat were selected for their suitability to the Swartland’s dry growing conditions. Fruit for this wine is sourced from predominantly dry-farmed bush vines, planted on Richter 99 rootstock, which is known for producing deep rooted vines. The region’s deep iron-rich clay and decomposed granite soils have a good water retaining capacity and produce elegant and robust red wines.
The grapes were hand harvested, destemmed and lightly crushed and then fermented in open top concrete fermenters (‘kuipe’). Manual punching down took place during fermentation. The wines were then racked off and sent to barrels for malolactic fermentation and further ageing. Each component for the blend was matured in seasoned French and American oak before blending occurred. Post blending, the final wine was returned to the same used oak barrels for further maturation before bottling.
| RRP | £25.49 |
| Bottle size | 75cl |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Alcoholic strength | 14% |
| Country | South Africa |
| Region | Coastal Region |
| Subregion | Swartland |
| Grapes | Shiraz 27%, Mataro 20%, Carignan 17% |
| Residual sugar (g/l) | 3.5 |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Organic | Yes |
| Biodynamic | No |
| Closure | Diam |
| Winemaker | Charl du Plessis |
Charles Back was an early pioneer in the Swartland, founding Spice Route there in 1998 after tasting an exceptional Sauvignon Blanc and immediately buying the land on which it grew. “Without [Charles]…the Swartland would still be regarded as a rural backwater”, wrote Tim Atkin MW, who awarded the winery ‘Cru Bourgeois’ status in his South Africa Classification in 2019. Today, the Swartland is the source of many of South Africa’s outstanding wines, and Spice Route remains one of its best and most credible producers. This is largely because they own all their own vineyards, driven by a belief that that producing exceptional wine begins in the vines. Their vineyard holdings are comprised of 100 hectares in Malmesbury and Darling. The former, all bush trained and planted on Malmesbury shale and red clay subsoils, give the fruit grown there an intensity that makes this region so exciting.
Winemaker Charl du Plessis has been with Charles since 2002 and knows the region intimately. Charles is keen to capture the flavours and structure of the outstanding fruit he has grown. In fact, despite the desert-like conditions of the region, the vines are never irrigated.
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