La Motte Chardonnay 2010

The wine has a real fruit basket nose including pineapple and nectarine framed in a straw and cashew nuts background. Hints of marmalade and citrus blossoms make it even more complex. A fairly low alcohol and firm acid should already tell you that the grapes were harvested with a fresh, structured wine in mind – a wine which is dominating the oak in which it matured for 12 months.

Excellent with caviar, snails, carpaccio, pâté, crayfish (Cape rock lobster), prawns, langoustine, mussels, perlemoen (abalone) and creamy cheese.

variety : Chardonnay [ 100% Chardonnay ]
winery : La Motte
winemaker : Edmund Terblanche
wine of origin : 
analysis : alc : 12.8 % vol  rs : 2.0 g/l  pH : 3.42  ta : 6.1 g/l  
type : White  style : Dry  body : Full  taste : Fruity   wooded
pack : Bottle  size : 0  closure : Cork  

AWARDS
2012 Veritas Wine Awards - Bronze Medal
Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2012 - Bronze
in the vineyard : Origin
Grapes for the 2010 La Motte Chardonnay originate from La Motte, Franschhoekvallei. The vineyard lies 200 metres above sea level and is planted against a southern and south western slope.

Vintage
Veterans in the wine industry described 2010 as one of the most difficult in their career. Winter conditions were not ideal for good budding. Cold and rain hampered budding further and, together with wind, bunch denseness was severely impeded. Wind caused physical damage, late rains caused fungus diseases, while late dry conditions reduced the already light yield even further.

Viticulture
Vineyard blocks: 6 (4.9 ha)
Soil type: Clovelly
Direction planted: north-south
Density: 4 630 vines per hectare (2,7 x 0,8)
Root stock: Richter 99
Clone: CY 3
Year planted: 1997
Trellising: Perold
Irrigation: Drip

The vineyard is managed to maintain a perfect balance between leaf coverage and yield. It is managed organically and is SGS-certified.

about the harvest: The 2010 Chardonnay grapes were harvested between 15 February and 2 March at different degrees of ripeness.

in the cellar : All the bunches were whole-pressed and the juice received a reasonable measure of oxidative treatment. The clean juice was transferred to 300-litre French oak barrels where it was inoculated with yeast and fermented at between 17 and 20 degrees Celsius. Malolactic fermentation was also in the barrels. One third of the juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks). After fermentation the lees was stirred regularly over a period of eleven months. 30% of the barrels in which the wine was matured were new. The components were blended subsequent to maturation and the wine was bottled in the La Motte cellar on 2 June 2011. After eight months of bottle maturation, 5 000 cartons (6 x 750 ml) were released as 2010 La Motte Chardonnay.

find our wines in :

OTHER VINTAGES

Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay