Blanc De Blancs

Grilled prawn salad, sushi, chocolate-dipped strawberries.

The 2019 vintage can be described as a two-part vintage, with the first half featuring favourable weather and good fruit analyses until the end of February and the second half being more challenging, with slower ripening due to cold and rainy weather in March. Good rainfall provided much-needed relief from the previous three years’ severe drought; yet, warm intervals in winter and changing temperatures in spring resulted in smaller berries and uneven bunch development. High winds and cool growing conditions resulted in significantly lower yields in certain vineyards. Moderate temperatures in December and January delayed harvest slightly, but early heat waves in February and reduced yields caused these grapes to be harvested much sooner than usual.

The bottles are aged for four years on the lees, disgorged and matured for an additional 8 months before release.

The Chardonnay grapes are hand-picked early in the morning and whole-bunch pressed. The free run and press components are always kept separate. The juice is then settled and inoculated with yeast for fermentation. Before blending, approximately 15% of the Blanc de Blanc is barrel-fermented and matured for 12 weeks. After that, the base wine is blended and filtered. The chardonnay is bottled for secondary fermentation, and the wines are kept at 13 to 15 degrees Celsius.

Anthonij Rupert Wyne was founded on the farm L’Ormarins in Franschhoek. Originally owned by the late Anthonij Rupert who passed away in 2001 the farm was eventually taken over by his brother Johann Rupert in 2003 and the brand named after him. It was Johann Rupert who constructed a state-of-the-art winemaking facility catapulting the farm into a prestigious wine estate and the beginnings of what is now a sprawling enterprise. The focus is on terroir specific wines and therefore the ranges are made from a number of sites. Each site offers optimum varietal specific growing conditions allowing Anthonij Rupert Wyne to adhere to the requirements of their different brands.