Winemaker Notes
Shows intense citrus and soft fruit layered with honey and vanilla carried by a distinct minerality and crisp acidity with a lingering citrus finish.
Delightful with warm curries which lift the aromatics or a traditional pairing of smoked salmon highlighting the fresh acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
On the nose, the 2017 Estate Reserve Chardonnay has elegant, luscious red apples, lemon and pear tart and seductive floral notes of cherry blossom. It has excellent mouthfeel with perfect mid-palate weight and balance and elegant Chardonnay expression. The 35% new oak is harmoniously integrated and not heavy handed or overdone and it finishes long. This is beautiful and complex like Chassagne-Montrachet. Yes, this is tasty and collectible stuff! Stock your cellars now as these bottles won't last long.
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Tasting Panel
The cool Western Cape region of Overberg is perfect for Burgundian grape growing. This white, which fermented and aged for 11 months in 500-liter French oak foudres, features a toasty nose of vanilla wafer and lemon pound cake that captures attention. Balanced flavors of banana and pineapple tart are wrapped in a weighty and sumptuous body. Notes of dill and rosemary join tart lime on the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is medium-rich in aroma, with tones of ripe mango, baked pear and caramelized pineapple atop a ripe apple core. The palate shows great overall balance, with pronounced verve in the lifted lime and orange tones and lingering vibrancy thanks to the bright acidity. The finish is medium-plus in length, with some soft spice on the back that grows in intensity with each sip.
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.