Fruit from two exceptional, ocean facing sites on the foothills of the Helderberg is used for this Chardonnay. With the vines now 25 years old, the wine that these vines produce shows the typical intensity that one can expect from mature Chardonnay vineyards. The crunchy, granite derived soil type (Clovelly) imparts a lovely, flinty minerality to the wine and proximity to sea means the wine naturally possesses a bracing freshness.

The grapes were all hand-picked at dawn into small lug-bins, chilled in our white wine cellar, then hand-fed over a sorting table. Whole bunch pressed, with the free-run juice settled for two days before being gravity-fed into barrel. Alcoholic fermentation entirely carried out in barrel (only using natural ambient yeast) for 8–10 weeks. Cellar maintained very cold at about 10° Celsius (fermentation peaking at about 18°), then temperature dropped to 7°. Battonnage was applied monthly only during the first 2 months. Racked out of barrel after 9 months, assembled and settled with a light bentonite fining and no filtration until bottling at the beginning of December 2016.

Salmon with roasted shiitakes and mushroom sauce, poultry, seafood or vegetarian dishes