Chardonnay - Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Chardonnay Barrel Fermented

A very well-balanced, medium-bodied wine with appealing dry pear and orange peel fruit flavours. The Chardonnay from the red soils added elegance of citrus fruit and a chalky mineral palate. With extended lees contact in the barrels, the wine shows well integrated oak with a creamy, long, fresh aftertaste.

Viticulture
The relatively cool ripening season of 2010 provided optimal conditions for the ripening of Chardonnay fruit. Grapes were carefully selected from specific vineyards from deep, red Stellenbosch Glenrosa soils and blend with grapes from deep red Robertson Karoo
soils. With their small berries and intense cultivar fruit flavours, the portion of grapes
from the Stellenbosch region added to the complexity in the wine.

Vinification
After early-morning harvesting at a sugar level of 23.5°B, the grapes were left in static drainers for 6 hours to extract flavour from the skins. The fermentation process was started in stainless steel tanks after which the wine fermented in 30% new, 50% second fill and 20% third fill French oak barrels. After the alcoholic fermentation was completed, no malolactic fermentation occured and the wine was left on the lees for 6 months. Barrel fermentation and maturation took place in 300 liter French oak tight grain barrels for a total of a 7 month period.