Colour: Pale yellow with a golden tint.
Bouquet: Abundant Scottish shortbread, hazelnut, ripe banana and vanilla flavours with well integrated wood.
Taste: Full, rich, creamy textured mouthfeel with a crisp acidity. The palate teems with ripe fig and golden delicious apples with oak spices filling in the background.
Delicate creamy dishes will work well with this wine, as will piquant poultry and seafood dishes.
in the vineyard : Background
The Tukulu range is one of South Africa’s foremost empowerment labels and takes its name from the deep red Tukulu soils in which the grapes are grown. Grapes are sourced from Papkuilsfontein Vineyards in Darling, owned jointly by Distell (49%), a consortium of black entrepreneurs (36%) and a community trust (15%), representing wine farm workers and members of the local Mamre community. The venture has been structured to become ultimately fully black-owned.
Since the first Tukulu wine was launched in 1999, the range has received widespread local and international acclaim with multiple ABSA Top Ten winners as well as Veritas double-gold and gold medals. Tukulu is also a past winner of the WINE Magazine Pinotage Challenge run in association with Tops at Spar.
Vineyards
To be certified as organic, the fruit must be grown organically for at least three years. The 10 hectares of Chardonnay have been farmed organically since 2001 and are accredited organic by the Swiss-based international body, Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS).
Papkuilsfontein Vineyards, situated just 25 km from the sea, enjoy relatively cool temperatures. The vineyards are cooled by maritime breezes while a range of hillocks protects the vines from the sometimes damaging effects of the south-easter. In addition, the farm has an above-average rainfall for the West Coast.
The farm’s deep, red Tukulu soils have excellent water retention properties and ensure the dryland vines are not unduly water-stressed.
The grapes for this wine come from an unirrigated block, planted in 1998 and trellised on a three-wire hedge system. Suckering and tipping of the vines ensured good aeration, light penetration and bud fertility.
Viticulturist: Graham Daniels
Farm manager: Hennie van der Westhuizen
about the harvest: The vines, yielding 6 tons per hectare, were hand-harvested at 24.5° Balling in early March.
in the cellar : The Chardonnay was entirely wood-fermented, spending six months on the lees in a combination of first and second-fill French 300 litre oak barrels. (No malolactic fermentation was induced in order to retain the primary fresh fruit character of the wine). The wine was stirred on the lees once a week for the first month and thereafter a fortnightly batonnage regime was followed to ensure a creamy consistency and greater complexity. Only the very best barrels were chosen for the final assemblage.