Le Bonheur Chardonnay 1999

The lemony fruit translates easily onto the palate which is ripe, creamy and fleshy, with gentle, very gentle evidence of oak. Here is a wine that is big, yet elegant, and deceptively easy to drink despite its serious intent.
Greenish medium-straw colour, with powerful citrus and mango aromas with spicy vanilla-oak undertones. At last a Chardonnay that is not overpowered by oak! Serve with roast pork and crackling, veal cutlets braised in the Chardonnay with some tarragon, shellfish, fish baked in a creamy mushroom sauce, mussels marinara, stuffed chicken, an avocado mousse, and deep-fried calamari. Delicious when paired with a rich crab or shrimp salad, or on its own. Serve chilled at 12Â°C.

variety : Chardonnay [ Chardonnay ]

winery : Le Bonheur Estate

winemaker : Sakkie Kotzé

wine of origin :

analysis : alc : 18 % vol rs : 2.1 g/l pH : 3.52 ta : 5.5 g/l

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

ageing : The 99 Chardonnay is drinking beautifully now, but has so much fruit and structure that it will develop even more complexity when matured for another year or two.

in the vineyard : 100% Chardonnay from the vineyards which are situated at an altitude of 200 to 300 metres above sea level, and face east to north-east. The vines were between 13 and 21 years old at the time of harvesting. Although the Chardonnay vineyards are cultivated under dryland conditions, they were lightly irrigated, using an overhead sprinkler system, in the exceptionally hot month of December 1998.

about the harvest: After a hot and dry growing season, the grapes were picked at 23Â°Balling during the period 1 January to 3 March 1999. The yield was a low 7 tons per hectare.

in the cellar : The grapes were brought to the cellar in small 20kg baskets, crushed and immediately cooled down to 14Â°C allowing only four hours of skin contact. After yeast inoculation, 60% of the juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks for 16-20 days at 13Â°C. The other 40% received a different treatment by fermenting the juice in new French oak barriques for 7 days at 20Â°C. It was then allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation in the barrels. After 4 months on its lees, the wine was lightly filtered, blended, bottled and matured for a year before its release.

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