Estate Reserve Chardonnay

Veal, chicken, lobster and crab.

Winter was cold and wet which was helping replenish soil moisture after the drought. Although we had a cool spring, we still had good bud burst. Fluctuations in weather during flowering and berry set resulted in loose uneven bunches with small berries. Veraison started earlier than usual. Cool conditions in growth season, bunch ripening was varied. In the beginning of February, we had intense heat which accelerated the harvest of the early varieties. Harvest was challenging with wet conditions at end of Feb through to March which meant that we had a long 3 week break in the harvest which increase the ripening time for us. The harvest was smaller than previous years but high quality.

It was naturally fermented and a variety of temperatures and then left for 11 months on its lees. Total time in barrel was 11 months.

The grapes were whole bunch pressed. The juice was transferred to new and second fill 500L blond toasted barrels after a brief settling.

Winemaker Dirk and assistant Lehandri endeavour to make Glenelly wines as naturally as possible with wild yeast fermentation and little to no acidification. The team follows a minimal intervention approach to winemaking yet intensive sorting and care is taken when receiving the grapes. We use France’s most recognised coopers (mostly from Taransaud, Boutes and Sylvain) to ensure a gentle and precise elevage, preserving the identity of the terroir of Glenelly. Hygiene is of utmost importance in the cellar and a combination of both hot water and ozonated water is used for cleaning.