Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Lush and fullbodied with deep toast and vanilla oak from a winery located on the eastern slopes of the Franschhoek mountains. Creamy, deep, and long, it has a confident core of tangy acidity
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Chardonnay Reserve was showing just a touch of reduction when I tasted it, although there is satsifying fruit intensity here, scents of dried pineapple, dried honey and beeswax gaining more intensity as it opens in the glass. The palate is well balanced, perhaps a little "thicker" in texture than previous vintages, more honeyed, though the acidity maintains sufficient balance and poise. There is certainly plenty of body here with a caressing, lightly spiced finish that is very appealing. Give this a year in bottle to really meld together, and you'll have a very satsifying Chardonnay.
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.