Chardonnay

Seared trout & oven roasted baby potatoes, salted with butter and rosemary.

Stellenbosch, in general, played host to a perfect winter, with steady cold units being accumulated through to the end of August with even rainfall throughout the winter. The good winter cold led to a particularly even bud break. Spring was cool and dry, which favoured the flowering and fruit set for the vintage. Good summer rainfall meant the vigour needed to be kept in check. Despite a relatively hot and dry ripening period, temperatures were kept moderate due to our higher altitude and ultimately led to an exceptionally good harvest with great sugar accumulation.

The wine was matured for 11 months in barrel. The wine was gently fined and filtered before bottling.

Grapes were picked by hand in the cool hours of the morning from cool climate vineyards. Bunches were sorted by hand and whole bunch pressed in a pneumatic press on a gentle Champagne cycle. The juice was settled overnight and then racked to 228L French oak barrels for spontaneous fermentation. The wild yeast fermentation took 2 months to complete. Partial Malolactic conversion was done on some of the batches.

At Oldenburg Vineyards we believe that great wines can only come from the best quality grapes. Our intervention in the vineyards is minimal to reflect the full potential of our mountain terroir. The Oldenburg Vineyards Series is a true expression of terroir through our range of single cultivar wines. The confluence of the 8 Natural Elements that determine our unique terroir is explored through these wines and their real sense of place. The 8 elements are depicted on the intricate Oldenburg Vineyards Series label design. Wines made in an uncompromising manner intending to showcase the finest characteristics of each cultivar.