The 2003 Chardonnay offers a complexity of flavours, including ripe citrus overlaid with traces of clove, ginger, butterscotch and vanilla.
Smoked salmon, white fish, creamy pasta dishes, pork or chicken.
variety : Chardonnay [ 100% Chardonnay ]
winemaker : Wynand Hamman
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 13.7 % vol rs : 2.11 g/l pH : 3.33 ta : 5.22 g/l
type : White style : Dry body : Full wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Vineyard blocks: Four different vineyard blocks.
Area: 3,06 ha in total.
Crop size: 28,6 tons.
Tons per ha: 9,3.
Altitude: 166 m – 375 m.
Age of vines: 8, 9 & 10 years.
Rootstock: Richter 99
Clones: CY8, CY277/CY95A & CY 277.
Soil: Deep well drained red, Deep dry alluvial sand, Deep stony sand & medium deep well drained yellow.
Plant direction: North / South.
Trellising: 5-wire Perold system. Sufficient to accommodate the vigour of the vines and to ensure good distribution of shoots, leaves and bunches.
Density: 3,600 vines per ha on average.
Space between rows: 2,4m, 1,8m & 2,1m.
Space between vines: 1m, 1,2m & 1m.
Irrigation: Micro spitters controlled by computer system through moisture meters and tensiometers. This enables stress management of the vines to produce optimum fruit quality. This is done in accordance with the water retention ability of the specific vineyard block.
Canopy management: Optimal balance between vigour and crop load is achieved by pruning through the correct number of bearer eyes (2). Summer manipulation in the form of suckering, shoot thinning and positioning complement the winter pruning.
in the cellar : The grapes were picked at 23 and 24° Balling with whole bunches crushed without prior destemming to ensure a prominent fruit character as well as a well-rounded wine. After pressing, the juice was settled in stainlessteel tanks for 48 hours at 10°C before the fermentation of the clear juice was started in the same tanks. The juice fermented down to about 19° Balling before it was pumped to 300 l French oak barrels. The barrels used on the Chardonnay were 60% new and 40% 2nd fill.
After fermentation in the barrels, the barrels were emptied and the gross lees were thrown out. The wine was sulphured and left to mature in the barrels for eight months.