Aslina Wines 'Skin Contact' Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa 2024
Ntsiki Biyela is celebrated as one of South Africa's first Black female winemakers. She grew up in Mahlabathini, a rural village in KwaZulu-Natal, and received a scholarship to study winemaking at Stellenbosch University, graduating in 2003. After over a decade at boutique winery Stellekaya — where she was named Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009 — she founded Aslina Wines in 2016, named in honor of her late grandmother. The Aslina range is a premium expression of her craft: wines of place, technique, and personal history. The Skin Contact Chenin Blanc is a wine Ntsiki made first for herself — a deliberately restrained skin-contact treatment designed to add texture and structure without pushing the wine into orange wine territory. "I want Chenin Blanc crispy and clean," she has said, "but with skin contact."
- WINEMAKER: Ntsiki Biyela
- FARMING: Hand-picked. Grapes sourced from Stellenbosch vineyards.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: Stellenbosch is South Africa's most recognized fine wine appellation, a diverse region of granite, shale, and sandstone-derived soils shaped by the Cape Fold Mountains and tempered by maritime influence from both False Bay and the Atlantic. Chenin Blanc grown in Stellenbosch tends toward ripe orchard fruit with savory, mineral depth.
- VINIFICATION: Two-component skin contact program: 20% of the fruit crushed and macerated on skins for 24 hours before pressing; 80% left on skins and fermented for seven days before pressing. No new oak. Bottled unoaked to preserve the freshness Ntsiki intended.
- AGING: Aged on fine lees for 6 months in stainless steel. 12.5% alcohol.
- TASTING NOTES: Slight golden hue. Bright citrus acidity with ripe orchard fruit — green apple, pear, and bruised stone fruit — alongside honeybush tea, hazelnut, and warm bread complexity from the extended skin contact. Dry, with a light tisane-like grip on the finish that enhances its food versatility.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Roast pork, grilled fish, aged hard cheese, spiced chicken dishes.
Aslina Wines 'Skin Contact' Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa 2024
Ntsiki Biyela is celebrated as one of South Africa's first Black female winemakers. She grew up in Mahlabathini, a rural village in KwaZulu-Natal, and received a scholarship to study winemaking at Stellenbosch University, graduating in 2003. After over a decade at boutique winery Stellekaya — where she was named Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009 — she founded Aslina Wines in 2016, named in honor of her late grandmother. The Aslina range is a premium expression of her craft: wines of place, technique, and personal history. The Skin Contact Chenin Blanc is a wine Ntsiki made first for herself — a deliberately restrained skin-contact treatment designed to add texture and structure without pushing the wine into orange wine territory. "I want Chenin Blanc crispy and clean," she has said, "but with skin contact."
- WINEMAKER: Ntsiki Biyela
- FARMING: Hand-picked. Grapes sourced from Stellenbosch vineyards.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: Stellenbosch is South Africa's most recognized fine wine appellation, a diverse region of granite, shale, and sandstone-derived soils shaped by the Cape Fold Mountains and tempered by maritime influence from both False Bay and the Atlantic. Chenin Blanc grown in Stellenbosch tends toward ripe orchard fruit with savory, mineral depth.
- VINIFICATION: Two-component skin contact program: 20% of the fruit crushed and macerated on skins for 24 hours before pressing; 80% left on skins and fermented for seven days before pressing. No new oak. Bottled unoaked to preserve the freshness Ntsiki intended.
- AGING: Aged on fine lees for 6 months in stainless steel. 12.5% alcohol.
- TASTING NOTES: Slight golden hue. Bright citrus acidity with ripe orchard fruit — green apple, pear, and bruised stone fruit — alongside honeybush tea, hazelnut, and warm bread complexity from the extended skin contact. Dry, with a light tisane-like grip on the finish that enhances its food versatility.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Roast pork, grilled fish, aged hard cheese, spiced chicken dishes.