Chardonnay

Perfect with light and delicate food such as raw and lightly cooked shellfish like crab and prawn.

The 2024 overall Budding was earlier and more even than for the 2023 vintage, but the damage of the storms late September resulted in significantly lower yields. The Pinot noir handled the challenges of the growing season quite well under the circumstances, where the wet Winter and dry Summer resulted in small compact bunches with small berries for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Early indications for the wines are for beautiful varietal expression, with good length and textured mouthfeel.

5 months, 57% amphorae and 43% balance neutral oak

Tesselaarsdal was founded in 2015 by long-standing Hamilton Russell Vineyards employee Berene Sauls. This wine is named after the historic Overberg farming hamlet of Tesselaarsdal not far from the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge wine appellation in which Berene was born – a descendant of the freed slaves who were bequeathed the land by former East India Company settler Johannes Tesselaar in 1810. Extreme care is taken to ensure this small-production classically styled Pinot noir expresses the personality of the cool maritime Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge from un-irrigated vines and its elevated stony clay and iron-rich soils.