Daschbosch Avon Clairette Blanche

£25.00

£33.33 per litre · incl. 20% VAT

In Stock

93/100Tim Atkin MW (South Africa Special Report)

92/100Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za

International Wine Challenge, Gold (2012 vintage)Sommelier Wine Awards, Gold (2012 vintage)Decanter World Wine Awards, Bronze (2014 vintage)The Wine Merchant Top 100 (2014 vintage)

Here's a white wine almost nobody in the UK has tried, and that's exactly the point. Clairette Blanche is one of South Africa's rarest grapes, and Daschbosch coax something genuinely special from old bush vines deep in the Breedekloof. Leesy, textured and bright, with greengage and citrus running through it. Pour this and watch people ask what it is.

Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.

Region

South Africa

Oak

After being whole-bunch pressed and settled for 24 hours, the grapes are racked to 4th fill French oak barrels for further fermentation. Finally, the wine is racked from the thick lees with sulphur added and aged in the same barrels for a further 2-3 months

UK wide delivery

Expert curated

Sourced direct

Our Verdict

We listed this because it does something almost no other white in our range can: it genuinely surprises people. Clairette Blanche is rare even in South Africa, and tasting these old-vine Breedekloof bottlings reminded us why the variety deserves far more attention. There's a textural depth from the barrel ageing and lees work that lifts it well beyond its price, with the acidity to keep it fresh and food-friendly. This is for the drinker who has worked through the Chenins and Chardonnays and wants the next discovery. We hold very little of it, so if it intrigues you, don't wait.

Tasting Notes

A textured white built on old bush-vine fruit and time on the lees. The nose is subtle and savoury, that gentle leesy character giving way to fresh greengage and bright citrus. On the palate it turns fleshier, green plum and white pear filling out the mid-palate, while the barrel-fermented texture lends a soft, creamy weight. Acidity stays crisp and focused through a long, clean finish, so it never feels heavy. A grown-up white with quiet complexity.

Greengage and citrus

Fresh greengage plum and zesty citrus drive the aromatics, keeping the wine lively and bright rather than broad or blowsy.

Fleshy orchard fruit

Green plum and white pear fill the palate with a soft, juicy roundness that gives the wine real presence.

Leesy texture

Six months on the lees with regular stirring builds a creamy, faintly savoury mouthfeel and a subtle depth beneath the fruit.

Quiet oak frame

Older French oak adds gentle structure and a hint of spice without masking the variety, leaving the fruit in charge.

About This Wine

If you think you've tasted everything South African white wine has to offer, this will stop you in your tracks. Clairette Blanche is a grape most British wine lovers have never even heard of, let alone poured, and that rarity is half the pleasure here. The other half is what's actually in the glass.

This comes from old bush vines rooted in the Breedekloof, a warm inland valley in the Western Cape that spent decades making bulk wine before a new generation of growers started proving what its ancient vineyards could really do. The fruit is hand-picked in the cool of early morning, whole-bunch pressed, then fermented and aged in well-seasoned French oak barrels with regular stirring of the lees. That patient handling is why the wine has such a satisfying weight and creamy texture rather than any heavy oak character.

Expect a subtle, leesy nose leading into greengage, fresh citrus, green plum and white pear, all carried by a fine line of acidity that keeps everything clean and lifted. It's a serious food wine. Try it with grilled prawns, a herby roast chicken, a zesty summer salad, or fresh seafood on the first warm evening of a British spring.

We deliver across the UK, and a bottle this unusual makes a brilliant gift for the curious drinker who believes they've tried it all. Tim Atkin has scored this wine 93 points.

Food Pairing

This is a food white through and through. Its crisp acidity and creamy texture make it a natural with seasonal seafood: think grilled sea bass, seared scallops, or a plate of dressed crab. It also handles lighter meat beautifully, from roast chicken to pork loin, and cuts cleanly through a zesty, herb-dressed salad on a warm evening.

—Grilled sea bass with lemon and herbs
—Seared scallops with a citrus butter
—Roast chicken with green salad
—Dressed Cornish crab on sourdough
—Pork loin with apple and fennel

How to Serve

Temperature

Lightly chilled, around 10C. Too cold and you lose the leesy texture and orchard fruit, so let it warm slightly in the glass.

Decanting

No decanting needed, but a brief 15 minutes in the glass rewards patience. The savoury, leesy depth and pear notes open and gain definition as the wine breathes.

Glass

A medium to large white wine glass with a fuller bowl, giving the textured palate and subtle nose room to express itself.

Cellaring

Store on its side somewhere cool, dark and stable. Best drunk within a few years, where the fresh fruit and developing savoury complexity overlap.

Behind the Wine

Breedekloof is a warm, dry inland valley, tucked behind the mountains of the Breede River Valley, and that continental heat is tempered by cooler mountain air rolling down at night. The Clairette Blanche here comes from old, low-yielding bush vines that ask for very little and give back concentration rather than volume. Hand-picked in the cool of early morning at gentle ripeness, the fruit keeps its natural freshness, which is exactly what you taste: bright greengage and citrus underpinned by a quiet, leesy depth.

Ageing Potential

Ready to enjoy now, with the lees-built texture and fresh acidity already in fine balance. It will also hold and develop for a few years in the cellar, the fruit softening and the savoury, nutty notes growing richer over time.

The Land

The Avon plot is old bush vines, well into their fifth decade, grown low to the ground with no trellis and worked by hand. They sit on a blend of Longlands and Westleigh soils, with overhead irrigation easing them through the dry summers. Deliberately tiny yields mean each vine pours its energy into a handful of intensely flavoured bunches rather than quantity.

The Winemaking

This is gentle, patient winemaking. The whole bunches are pressed and the juice left to settle for a full day before fermentation begins, slowly, in fourth-fill French oak. Older barrels are the point: they lend texture and breath rather than vanilla or toast. Six months on the lees with regular bâtonnage, stirring those fine yeast sediments back through the wine, builds the creamy, fleshy mouthfeel that sets it apart. A final two to three months resting in the same barrels rounds everything into focus before bottling.

About the Producer

Breedekloof

Daschbosch belongs to a quiet revolution in Breedekloof. For decades this valley was the Cape's workhorse, a place of co-operatives and bulk wine, its old vineyards overlooked. Daschbosch saw something different in those gnarled survivors, and has built a reputation by giving Breedekloof's rare old-vine parcels the careful, single-minded attention they deserve. The Avon Clairette Blanche is a flagbearer for that thinking: a near-forgotten white grape, grown on vines planted long before anyone thought it fashionable, made with restraint and conviction. It is the kind of wine that rewards a producer willing to back unglamorous old vineyards.

Learn More →