Chamonix Chardonnay 2015
- Decanter
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Robert
Parker -
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Enthusiast
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Chamonix Chardonnay is released in the first year after the harvest. The wine shows bright straw yellow colors with golden highlights and ample aromas in scents that recall tropical fruits and grapefruit, mingling with
hints of oatmeal, caramel and nutmeg. Medium-bodied with richly complex flavors, mellow fruit sensations are
deftly fused with oak in a long, elegant finish. It should reach its prime in about 5 years from release.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
The spiced honey and vanilla notes make for a promising start, which then adapts into lemon biscuits and ice cream. This fleshy palate is backed up by tangy acidity and the finish is pleasantly tart.
Drinking Window 2017 - 2021
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Chardonnay spent 14 months in French oak (30% new) this year. It has an attractive bouquet with citrus fruit, grapefruit, dried honey and a touch of hazelnut, displaying good vigor and intensity. The palate is fresh on the entry with crisp acidity, fine tension with hints of walnut and linseed infusing the light tropical tones, dovetailing into an attractive and quite persistent finish. Enjoy this over the next 5-8 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Subtle aromas of grilled apple, peach pit and ripe yellow melon set the stage on the nose of this wine, with a touch of dried hay in the back. The medium-weight palate is smooth in feel, with just a subtle textural grip of citrus pith and ample acidity to lift the ripe fruit flavors. It's well-balanced and integrated, with lingering hints of sweet spice and toast.
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Enthusiast
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
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Spectator
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Robert
Parker
Chamonix Wine Farm is nestled against Mont Rochelle, deep within the rich wine-growing valley of Franschhoek in the Western Cape. Formerly part of the historic La Cotte granted to the Huguenots in 1688, Chamonix today comprises some 750 acres. German-born Chris Hellinger purchased the farm in the early 1990s when it was predominantly an export fruit farm. With tenacity and vigor, a replanting program began, steadily replanting fruit trees with noble French grape varieties. An underground cellar was built drawing upon Hellinger’s engineering background and old world principles. An underground passage leads through the cellar up into the Blacksmith’s Cottage, built in the late 1700s, which now houses the Tasting Room and Sales Department
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.
Originally named Franschhoek meaning the “French Corner” because it was home to the influx of French Huguenots, today the valley contains many historic cellars and is an important tourist location because of its proximity to Cape Town.
This valley falls to the southeast of Paarl and is enclosed on three sides by towering mountains. Streams from the slopes flow down to the valley floor, converging to form the Berg River. The area excels in the production of full-bodied reds.