Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay

Match with grilled prawns, fresh crayfish and other hearty seafood dishes

The Callender Peak wines offer a purity and freshness that only comes with cool climate viticulture. Expertly handled in the winery by Donovan Rall, he has managed to express real character in the wines with good weight and intensity. These are unique wines of real class. Due to its elevation and the population of skilled agricultural businesses, we believe Ceres Plateau is a WO that will become more and more important in the South African scene as time goes on. Interestingly, the chardonnay is not planted on a rootstock - it is incredibly rare in South Africa that vines are planted on their own roots. The two vineyards are a mix of sandstone and clay.

The fruit was pressed without being destemmed into old French oak for natural fermentation.

Callender Peak wines come from the Macdonald farm in the Agterwitzenberg Valley, 2.5 hours drive northeast of Cape Town. The valley sits between 750-950m asl and runs north-south. It is behind Tulbagh and is the valley before the Kouebokkeveld. The Olifantsrivier starts here and travels north to eventually spill into the Atlantic at Strandfontein on the west coast. Predominately an apple and pear-growing area, the Agterwitzenberg is a very cool climate for viticulture in South Africa. The wines are now made by Donovan Rall and he thinks the Chardonnay in particular is some of the best fruit he has seen in South Africa.