Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A rich nose of papaya, mangoes, butterscotch, banoffee pie, dried cloves and vanilla. Full body, loads of tropical fruit, a driven serving of acidity and a long finish.
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Wine Spectator
A ripe, lush style, with honeycomb, white ginger, warm brioche and creamed yellow apple and pineapple flavors gliding through. A light verbena thread keeps this fresh enough, but this is squarely on the showy, crowd-pleasing side of things. Drink now through 2019.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Chardonnay begins with a structured nose of Meyer lemon and a soft mintiness to the aromatics, with subtle oak edges, underripe golden apples and corn kernels with mild brown baking spices. The palate shows pomaceous fruit and expresses flavors of subtly spiced pears sprayed with lemon juice. Medium-bodied, the Chardonnay ends with a balanced, lingering finish that reminds me of Margret River Chardonnay, with a touch of saltiness on the back end. 1,000 cases made.
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.