Durbanville Hills Rhinofields Chardonnay 2000

Chardonnay-du-Monde Competition Burgundy 2002 - Silver Medal
This is a full â€œfatâ€ wine for most occasions. Fruity and creamy, it is as much a sundowner as an companion to rich meals. On the palate the creamy character rather than the wood, forms the backbone of the wine. From this solid base, aromas carry through while the palate picks up sweet, ripe citrus and banana flavours.

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variety : Chardonnay [ 100% Chardonnay ]

winery : Durbanville Hills Wine

winemaker : Martin Moore

wine of origin : Coastal

analysis : alc : 13.64 % vol rs : 1.7 g/l pH : 3.69 ta : 5.6 g/l va : 0.49 g/l

type : White

pack : Bottle

AWARDS

Chardonnay-du-Monde Competition Burgundy 2002 - Silver Medal

in the vineyard : The abundance of fruit flavours in this wine is the result of the terroir unique to the diverse slopes of the hills of Durbanville. The grapes were selected from four vineyards on the south-facing slopes of Hooggelegen, Klein Roosboom and Hooge Bergs Vallei as well as on a north-facing slope at Maastricht. They were picked fully ripe after selective crop control throughout the growing season. The grapes were harvested at between 24Â° and 25 Â° Balling at the end of February 2000.

in the cellar : The wine was blended from three style components with 70% unwooded Chardonnay forming the basis. The balance was fermented and matured for five months using French oak. All the wines were made sur lie for five months and racked from the lees just prior to bottling in July 2000.

The strong pear flavour and subtle peach aromas come from sun-drenched north facing slopes which lie almost at sea level. The higher south-facing vineyards on two different slopes delivered subtle peach and banana flavours, as well as an abundance of creamy citrus aromas. The wine was shaped as a fusion of Chardonnay wines with distinct different characters. Half the wine fermented in stainless steel tanks and was kept on the lees , undergoing occasional mixing of the lees to maintain freshness. In the cellar jokingly called â€œtÃ¢nkonnageâ€ this practice is seen as the answer to getting a full bodied wine, without overwooding by the traditional method of 100% barrel fermentation and â€œbÃ¢tonnnageâ€.

Forty percent of the wine was crushed as whole bunches and fermented in selected oak barrels from Burgundy for 8 months with further complexity added by introducing 10 percent of wine from the same vineyards of the 1999 vintage. The wine that spent 22 months in barrel ensured a creamy finish on nose and palate that helps to integrate the delicate wood flavour with the generous fruit.

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