in the vineyard : Soil: Low-vigour, stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soil.
Not just a Chardonnay, but a classic, origin expressive wine
Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay is different to most New World Chardonnays. Our stony, clay-rich, soil, cool maritime mesoclimate, naturally tiny yields of around 30 hl/ha and our philosophy of expressing our terroir in our wines – give rise to a tighter, drier, more complex mineral character and length to complement the varietal fruit. Many wine enthusiasts prefer this more ‘classic’ style to the round, viscous, vanilla and sweet fruit character of so many Chardonnays. For this reason, many knowledgeable enthusiasts around the world regard Hamilton Russell Vineyards as the best ‘Chardonnay’ in South Africa and one of the best in the New World.
Growing Season
The vineyards had higher than average winter rainfall, lower than average spring rainfall and slightly lower than average rainfall during harvest. Overall, conditions for disease control were highly favourable and this combined with extremely low yields resulted in grapes of exceptional quality.
about the harvest: In terms of temperatures, it was a cool harvest, starting with a good winter chill and more even bud break than usual. December and March were particularly cool. The average of the maximum daily temperatures for the 4 hottest months of the year – Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar – was 24.2 Centigrade vs our long term average of 25.