Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The David Finlayson 2023 Stellenbosch Chardonnay (with the black label and a screw-cap bottle) is bright and crisp with tropical tones that add aromatic highlights over a core of softer orchard fruit and melon. This expression has a salty side for extra focus and minerality, but the basic and genuine quality of fruit is the main attraction here. This is an accessible wine that will prove easy to pair with light lunches and salads. Fruit is collected from various sites just outside of False Bay.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of lime gently emerge from the glass, creating a subtle yet inviting bouquet. Balanced acidity complements rich notes of wood spices, with hints of citrus fruit and pear, adding a refreshing touch to the palate.
Best Buy -
Wine Spectator
A creamy white, with a toasty overtone, plus a spine of vivid acidity well-meshed with flavors of persimmon, passion fruit, lemon parfait and toasted almond. Drink now through 2030.
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.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.