Chardonnay

This wine will complement fattier and rich fish dishes such as sashimi or prepared, as well as cooked shellfish. It works well with seared foie grass, complex salads and most cheeses.

The grapes used to make this wine are all from the same block, called Annabelle after our eldest daughter. This sandy loam block is located on the coldest site of the farm; assuring us of winter frost every winter and thus providing the Chardonnay vines with the required cold units to bud uniformly year after year. The vines are not irrigated throughout the ripening season, forcing them to dig their roots deeper in search of water.

After fermentation, the wine undergoes lees contact for an average of 10 months on the gross lees without bâtonnage. Newer barrels are left longer (11 months) to achieve full integration while older barrels are emptied at 8-9 months to retain freshness.

After gentle pressing and cold settling, the wine is gravity-fed into small French oak barrels (228 -300L) of which 42% is new barrels and left to start natural (wild yeast) fermentation. Barrel selection is based on 10 years of experience working the same grapes from the same block. A portion is allowed to do natural fermentation in concrete egg. Completing fermentation can take from 3 weeks to 3 months for individual barrels.

Almenkerk Wine Estate is a small family-owned wine estate situated in the Elgin valley just east of Cape Town South Africa. The estate is owned by the Belgian/Dutch van Almenkerk family and run by Natalie and Joris van Almenkerk. Whilst Joris has fun making award-winning wines Natalie is in charge of sales and marketing PR and admin. Patriarch Joep helps out with sales frequent wine tastings and as a mentor on the business side. As well as that we have a dedicated group of family and friends that come over to help us out by opening the tasting room when we are not around or assisting with the harvest. We’d love to welcome you to our estate in the beautiful cool-climate Elgin Valley. Come for a tasting and enjoy the spectacular views across the valley and vineyards whilst we share our story and wines with you.