Chardonnay

Mild risottos, chicken salads and seafood dishes.

Characterised by typical dry conditions and moderate temperatures, favourable conditions continued throughout the season. Yet despite smaller berries and lighter crop stemming from the windy conditions grapes showed good acidity and balanced sugar delivering well concentrated and structured wines.

After fermentation the wine is topped and left on the lees with regular lees stirring for 9 months. Only partial malolactic fermentation was allowed to occur in order to retain the natural acidity and balance in the wine. The barrels were all French oak 228 litre barrels of which 30% were new the rest were older barrels. The wine was bottled in December 2019.

The grapes are de-stemmed, crushed and pressed to stainless steel tanks for cold settling overnight. The clarified juice is then racked to a holding tank where we inoculate with a selected yeast strain & nutrients, homogenise the tank, take the juice down to barrel for fermentation.

Sutherland Vineyards is situated just 9 kms off the Atlantic Ocean with altitudes of 140 to 250 meters above sea level. The cool maritime climate allows for slower ripening than in other Cape Wineland areas producing wines with vibrant concentrated fruit flavours and an elegant minerality. All Sutherland wines are bottled and produced at the estate in Stellenbosch.