Rustenberg Chardonnay 2008
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Delicious, with gorgeous melon, Bosc pear and Jonagold apple flavors offset by a stylish streak of grilled hazelnut. The long, racy finish lets the toast and fruit play together nicely. Drink now.
-
Wine Enthusiast
A gorgeous and well-balanced Chard that’s on par with some of the more popular offerings from other notable regions. Elegant and expressive with butter, toasted brioche, red apple skins and almond paste unfolding in the bouquet while flavors of baked apples and pear lead through to the marzipan-infused finish. Full and intense but not fat or overdone; drink now with stuffed lobster or thermidor.
Other Vintages
2010-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
The renaissance began with a large scale replanting of the vineyards using virus-free clones imported from France, followed by sweeping renovations to the winery and the hiring of new viticultural and winemaking teams. As Wine Spectator recently observed, "Rustenberg has all the qualifications of a world-class wine estate: a long history of winemaking…and ideal terroir, with deep-red, clay-rich granite soils that are located on a variety of slopes and elevations." Rustenberg has achieved tremendous critical and commercial success, and today the celebrated estate’s bottlings are among South Africa’s most iconic and sought-after wines.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
With an important wine renaissance in full swing, impressive red and white bargains abound in South Africa. The country has a particularly long and rich history with winemaking, especially considering its status as part of the “New World.” In the mid-17th century, the lusciously sweet dessert wines of Constantia were highly prized by the European aristocracy. Since then, the South African wine industry has experienced some setbacks due to the phylloxera infestation of the late 1800s and political difficulties throughout the following century.
Today, however, South Africa is increasingly responsible for high-demand, high-quality wines—a blessing to put the country back on the international wine map. Wine production is mainly situated around Cape Town, where the climate is generally warm to hot. But the Benguela Current from Antarctica provides brisk ocean breezes necessary for steady ripening of grapes. Similarly, cooler, high-elevation vineyard sites throughout South Africa offer similar, favorable growing conditions.
South Africa’s wine zones are divided into region, then smaller districts and finally wards, but the country’s wine styles are differentiated more by grape variety than by region. Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, is the country’s “signature” grape, responsible for red-fruit-driven, spicy, earthy reds. When Pinotage is blended with other red varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Pinot Noir (all commonly vinified alone as well), it is often labeled as a “Cape Blend.” Chenin Blanc (locally known as “Steen”) dominates white wine production, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc following close behind.