100% Chardonnay made from Dijon clone CY548 planted on Ironstone in the Groenland Mountain area of Elgin.

The inspiration for these 3 Deconstructed Chardonnays stems from my belief that the Elgin region boasts credentials that make it world-class. To bolster these regional credentials, I have set out to prove that Elgin has both signature grapes and specific ‘terroirs’ (meso-climates) that reflect intra-regional distinctions. To fully comprehend this, it is necessary to dig deeper into the DNA that makes up our region. To elucidate this, I have decided to make these 3 Chardonnay wines that have each been selected from a specific vineyard and an individual clone. Importantly, this is an ongoing story that will unfold over the coming years.

WINEMAKING: Grapes were hand-picked in the early autumnal mornings, placed intosmall lug baskets and tipped directly into a press before being gently whole-bunchpressed. The juice gravity-flowed directly to barrel without settling. The unclarified juicehad no enzymes or yeast added to it and therefore underwent spontaneousfermentation until dry, with malolactic discouraged. The wine rested in barrel for fourmonths before judicious sulphuring and a further seven months’ maturation in barrelbefore racking, blending and bottling.

BARREL SELECTION: A small number of artisanal coopers were selected, all from Burgundy and only French oak was chosen. Importantly, this wine was micro-vinified as a separate batch. In 2021, 100% was new oak; 100% using two 228 litre barrels.

The most fragrant of the 3 regional Chardonnays. Chalky notes with creamed lemon, basil stem and aniseed. Clean and tight on finish. Dare I say, it’s quite Burgundian. I love it. – Corlien’s notes

ANALYSIS: Alc: 13.57% | RS: 3.3g/l | TA 7g/l | pH 3.3