Southend Chardonnay

The grapes are handpicked and packed in to small, shallow crates to limit crushing of the bunches. The day’s harvest is cooled down overnight to 8ºC in the winery’s refrigerated cold room. The grape bunches are hand-sorted on a conveyor table and fall directly to the press for whole bunch pressing . The best quality juice (approximately 40% of the press yield) is drained directly to barrel, with the balance settled by temperature only (no enzyme used) and racked the next day to barrel for spontaneous fermentation. No sulphur is used in the winemaking, allowing diverse micro-organisms from the grape itself to flourish unrestrained in the fermentation.

These vineyards lie on the south-facing slope at altitudes of 300m down to 210m, in the porphyritic Granite soils of the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. This appellation ranges from 4 to 8 km in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is cool and temperate, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly oceangoing winds through the appellation during the summer. These southerly winds in turn create regular sea mists and overcast conditions, moderating the temperatures in the valley. The annual rainfall is 850mm, with 50% falling in the winter months (May – August). A cool, long-ripening and healthy vintage. The preceding winter was late to start and crept in to September, delivering good rains and the best cold units for the last 5 years. The budburst throughout the cold conditions of September was gradual, delaying the growth to late in the season. Some late, cold front systems lashing the coast caused some wind damage and crop loss during flowering in early November, setting the tone for one of the coldest spring seasons in 10 years. The generous Spring rains contrasted with one of the driest, though coolest, summers on record. Only 12 hours of temperature over 30°C was recorded for the whole summer, culminating in an average ripening period of 105 days from flowering to harvest for both the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Most of these vineyards were harvested in March, indicating a distinctly late season.

Matured for 11 months in mostly puncheon (500L) and some barrique (228L) barrels produced in Burgundy. Tighter grained oak is preferred for subtle flavour, with longer seasoning and slower, lower temperature toasting. New oak comprises 9% of the final blend. The wine was blended and kept for further élevage of 5 months in stainless steel. No fining, coarse filtration and sulphur adjustment before bottling.