Description
Soutbos is an elegant and complex white blend crafted from West Coast Chenin Blanc and Colombard, showcasing the unique coastal terroir. The nose opens with fresh citrus, melon, and guava, evolving into ripe yet balanced fruit aromas of pineapple and guava. The palate delivers a savory touch of green herbs, adding depth and freshness. A dry, mineral backbone is complemented by truffle-like aromas, sea kelp, and a distinct salinity, creating a harmonious, seamless finish that leaves you wanting more.
Food Pairing: Perfect with shellfish, lean fish, salmon, spicy dishes, mild soft cheeses, and vegetable-based dishes.
Reviews
JancisRobinson.com 17/20
Certified Heritage Vineyards (1983 and 1988). A brand-new cuvee for Ian Naude (who usually sticks to varietal wines). 20% Colombard from a vineyard planted in 1988 and 80% Chenin from a vineyard planted in 1983. Beautiful nose – grilled grapefruit peel, orange blossom. In typical Ian Naude style, it’s a pared-back-to-essentials wine with a bony structure verging on spartan. It’s like tasting the salt wind that blows across the vineyard and sucking on the rocks that shape the roots. The acidity has so much tension and salinity – like crunching sea water. Apples. Apples in the sea. A touch of sage dust and pineapple skin. Lime zest. And a finish that is rigid with tension. One mouthful of this and all I want is bowls of oysters, marcona almonds and gordal olives. [Tamlyn Currin, 24/02/2024]
Greg Sherwood 97
This stunning new white blend from Naude Family Wines represents the culmination of many years of work Ian Naude has spent constructing and perfecting intricate, complex and age worthy white blends. More latterly, Ian has built an iconic reputation for some of the most eye-catching Old Vine Chenin Blancs produced in South Africa before moving his attention to championing Old Vine Colombard vineyards up the West Coast. This new white draws on all Ian s experience and expertise to assemble an incredibly fresh, tight knit, minerally driven white wine. A blend of 83% Chenin Blanc from a vineyard planted in 1988 and 17% Colombard from a vineyard planted in 1985, has seen Ian create his first new white blend since 2010 from these two noble West Coast Vredendal vineyards. Crystalline and fresh in the glass, the aromatics show incredibly subtle notes of lemon peel zest, grapefruit, white peach, honeydew melon and Granny Smith apples with underlying hints of dried guava roll, sweet herbs and cream soda rock candy. Fresh, intense and mouth coating, this is an intriguing white blend that combines the vibrancy and exuberance of Old Vine Colombard with the more herbal, mineral and textural aspects of Chenin Blanc. Undoubtedly, the standout features remain the incredible balance, seamless texture and maritime kelpy salinity. Like all of Ian s red and white wines, his attention to detail is simply extraordinary, marking this white blend as one of the most exciting and thought-provoking new releases on the South African white wine landscape since possibly the launch of Eben Sadie s Old Vine Skerpioen. Drink and enjoy its freshness on release and revisit over the next 10 to 15+ years. [Greg Sherwood, 13/10/2023]
Neal Martin 93
The 2023 White Blend Soutbos is a blend of 84% Chenin Blanc and 16% Colombard, which is whole bunch pressed and kept on the lees for as long as possible in used oak barrels. It has a complex bouquet that unfurls in the glass with hints of yellow plum, wild fennel and just a hint of lemongrass. Fine delineation. The palate is where the action is at the moment: wonderful tension, a killer line of acidity, taut and linear with a minerally, marine-influenced finish. I can see this aging with real style. Excellent, but just four barrels were made. FYI, the name translates as "salt bush" as Naude finds such salinite in the wine. [Neal Martin, 25/08/2023]
Producer Profile
Ian Naudé’s wines are unlike anything else.
His range of wines are made up of esoteric pockets of old and new vines that tell a story about South African heritage. He did so fearlessly, believing that South African wine, if made honestly, and without compromise can come to rival the finest wines in the world. And slowly the international wine cognoscenti have started believing it too, as demonstrated by their rave reviews year-on-year.
