Chardonnay & Pinot Noir

A single vineyard Chardonnay from Stellenbosch taken on in 2022 making this the second vintage for Pieter. The wine sees 40% untoasted new oak giving a faint acacia and vanilla pod note with fresh stone fruit. The vineyard faces into False Bay accounting for the real purity and salinity on the finish.

This is a restrained and saline Chardonnay from Mick and Jeanine Craven, from the Helderberg, that balances white pear and citrus pith with hints of anis and sea spray. Refined, and brilliant value: a wine for any night of the week.

Only 3800 bottles made of this shimmering Pinot. Using 40% whole bunch fermentation, there are notes of rose petal, allspice and nutmeg, with wild herbs mingling with the vibrant cherry and pomegranate fruit. A deliciously complex Pinot with layers of fruit and spice on the finish.

Just 3700 bottles made of this delicious Chardonnay. Opening with notes of fresh almond, a little butterscotch and vanilla pod, the palate delivers wonderfully focused flavours of pear, white peach and yellow grapefruit. There is a lift of ocean spray on the finish.

A blend of grapes from across the Overberg make this charming, juicy, village-level Pinot Noir. So crunchy and fresh, with lovely tannins, and a lot of floral lift on the finish. This is so easy to drink: but don't underestimate its ability to age.

Named after their great grandmother, who arrived in South Africa at 14 years of age, this is a blend of Chardonnay vineyards from across the Overberg. It's a brilliant, fresh and zippy style, with just a hint of flinty reduction, and some ginger spice, lemongrass and ocean spray. Notes of white grapefruit pith, and apricot on the finish.

A beautiful, ethereal style of Pinot with notes of mulberry, red cherry and pomegranate. Light oak spice with a kiss of toasted cedar and bay leaf mingle with elegant floral notes of violets and cherry blossom. Super energy from start to finish.

From the cool climate area of Elim, this Pinot Noir is planted on a mixed of Bokkeveld slate, koffieklip and gravel soils. It offers a seductive nose of wild strawberries, cranberries, parma ham, black olives and a bruised rosemary herbal note. Wonderful finesse here.

Cuvée Clive is Graham Beck’s prestige cuvée and only made in exceptional years. Year after year, the best sparkling wine of the Cape, the 2017 is 100% Chardonnay aged on the lees for 5 years before disgorgement. 70% of the blend originated from one block on their estate in Robertson, planted in 2002 to four different clones of Chardonnay on pure limestone soil. The remaining 30% comes from Darling, lending bright and racy acidity to the blend. This is a wonderfully tense wine, showing remarkable complexity of toasted brioche, salted almonds, ginger, and dried orange peel. The palate is chalky and focused with white grapefruit, white peach and fresh pear. This is so fine and so graceful.

A seductive Pinot with delicious red cherry and pink peppercorn on the nose. Hints of cocoa and wild herbs mingle with the red fruit core, and tannins are fine grained and refined. A refreshing violet tinged finish.

From the original Hemel-en-Aarde estate, this is a chiselled, vibrant style of Chardonnay, notes of acacia flower and ginger spice. A delicate kiss of oak helps to accent the fine, stone fruit flavours with a focused, refreshing finish.

From the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, this is beautiful, lifted style of Pinot with impressive freshness and intensity. Opening with a little spice and grilled herbs on the nose there is a core of dark berry fruit, and fine-grained tannins that linger, it's a very classy Pinot Noir.

From Kaaimansgat, from the same vineyard as Peter-Allan Finlayson's Malabel, this is a cool climate Pinot Noir that dazzles with its freshness and purity. Jessica has to battle the baboons here for the grapes, but it's well worth it: this is floral, delicate, and very long. The palate offers fresh red berries, cherry blossom and a little pepper on the finish.

If you are looking for South Africa’s answer to top white Burgundy, look no further. With a little flintiness to start, the nose reveals flavours of orange blossom, white peach and quince. Real tension through the palate with a bright crystalline core, the finish is focused and effortlessly long.

Such a fine Chardonnay, this will give top Burgundy a run for its money. Reflecting the maritime climate, the wine opens with aromas of crushed lime and yellow grapefruit. It is so vibrant on the palate with flavours of tangerine and white pear, a touch of salinity and finishes with a textured and lush mouthfeel.

The 2023 Family Vineyards Chardonnay is sourced from three vineyard sites from the farm, two north facing, and one south facing. This is a detailed, chiselled and impeccable balanced Chardonnay with subtle notes of butterscotch, acacia, and a very fine saline finish.

A subtle, delicately spiced wine using 20% whole clusters this year. It offers notes of grilled herbs, fresh red cherries and red flowers with a little black pepper and nutmeg spice on the finish.

Always brilliant value for money the Southend Chardonnay delivers mouthwatering freshness, with immediate charm. Flavours of ripe orchard fruit, a little apricot blossom, and subtle pastry notes give way to a beautifully focused, zesty finish.

From a 2.5 hectare vineyard at the top of the slope, Windansea has a majestic view to the sea. The shallow dense clay of the soil always lends the wine more density. The 2023 is elegant and more filigree than the previous vintage with notes of red and black cherry, grilled herbs and a little savoury spice. The palate is bright and sappy with floral notes of violet and cherry blossom mingling with a little pepper spice on the finish.

Due to the vintage being warmer and drier, more stems were used in 2022. This has a lot of tension, which is balanced with ripe yet perfectly fresh fruit, and a lot of mid palate weight. This remains a benchmark for the Hemel-en-Aarde.

Very fine and pithy. Really nice fruit definition, that is fresh and juicy - and there’s also lots of cool fruit. Nicely balanced. There’s a very bright energy and good depth and density here. Good value.

A lavish wine with dense fruit, soft spice and violets. The lush black and red fruits merge to a savoury core, strewn with mineral characters and freshly turned earth. The firm framework and granular tannins are rooted in the clay soil, lengthened by fine, sinewy tannins in the finish.

Seadragon is from the oldest vineyard on the farm. It always gives fine bright red berry fruit, with perfumed aromatics of rose petal and violets. This vintage sees around 25% whole bunch lending a delicate herbal spice. The finish is long, detailed with accents of black cherry and fresh earth.

Very pure on the nose, with notes of citrus and stone fruit. Very tight and young - and lots of energy. This is very stony - salty and mineral, with lots of citrus. Craig likens it to St-Aubin, and we can see what he means.

Selected from a single vineyard block of Chardonnay in the Lower Duivenhoks River area, with Chardonnay grapes on limestone soils. This is very intense and fresh, with an incredibly pure and crystalline palate of white grapefruit, green apple. Nervy and mineral, with a long finish.

Sourced from a parcel in the western part of Elgin the 76 clone tends to yield aromatic wines that are minerally and tight and underpinned by a rich palate structure. The wine shows notes of fresh cantaloupe melon, fig and apricot with a hint of white grapefruit pith and cashew nut on the finish.

This comes from eight small parcels of Chardonnay in Elgin. Showing the freshness of this cool climate, it offers citrus notes and orchard fruit with elegance and focus with delicate oak spice shining through on the finish.

This clone comes from Corton-Charlemagne cuttings. A beautifully focused Chardonnay opening with a little flintiness, and reveals aromas of acacia blossom, orange peel, nectarine and white grapefruit. It has a chiselled, crystalline edge with real tension and energy on the finish.

Sourced from the western part of Elgin, known as the Lake District, this clone produces wines that are nervy, aromatic, elegant and crisp with slightly lower alcohol. The fruit is subtle with hints of citrus fruit and white peach with a little nuttiness on the finish.

From the western part of Elgin, this is a medium-bodied with plenty of ripe stone fruit and flavours of fresh nectarine and white peach. There is a little toasted almond and butterscotch note on the finish with lovely freshness.

Seven tiny parcels of Pinot Noir give this delicate Pinot Noir, with lifted notes of cherry blossom and rose petal, summer berries, and a hint of pomegranate on the finish. There is a subtle oak spice and hint of pepper on the finish.

From the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, with two parcels grown on Bokkeveld Shale. This is a floral, finessed style with aromas of blood orange, red cherry and cranberry fruit. There is real purity in the glass with delicate spiced notes of pepper and wild herbs, with fine-boned tannins.

From the French Pinot Noir clone PN115, the grapes tend to have small berries and compact cluster that give aromatic intensity and juicy black fruit. The palate is framed with fine-grained tannins with shimmering violet and pomegranate fruit with hints of cocoa and wild herbs on the finish.

Beautifully made Chardonnay with fine creamy notes of apricot, white peach with hints of acacia and butterscotch. There is a real charm to the wine and density of stone fruit on the mid-palate but coils up with a pulse of saline tension on the finish.

From the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge this opens with delicate flinty notes with notes of lime blossom, white grapefruit and verbena on the palate there is a sherbet like verve which builds to a wonderfully refreshing, tense finish.

A Volnay-like delicacy here with notes of rose petal, white pepper, cranberry and red cherry fruit. The palate is fine with a delicate and fine-grained grip of tannin supporting the supple berry fruit and notes of liquorice and violets wild strawberry on the finish.

Real poise and focus to this Pinot with notes of cherry blossom, rosehip and red berries. This has a bright core of fruit, with a sappy tension and delicate floral finish.

From a vineyard at 330m elevation this is the most restrained of the line up now but offers notes of cherry blossom with finely chiselled, bright red berry fruits. A real sensation of minerality running through the wine there are hints of cranberry, wild herbs and rosehip on the finish.

The Tesselaarsdal Pinot Noir comes from a vineyard on the Hemel-en-Aarde ridge, and is a delicate and perfumed, with crunchy red berry fruit, wild strawberry and notes dried sage. Fine and detailed tannin yet with wonderfully intense fruit, this is a brilliant 2023.

The Tesselaarsdal Chardonnay is a generous yet impeccably balanced example, from a single vineyard on Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. The 2023 shows invigorating intensity with notes of white peach, lime blossom and lemongrass. The finish is long and focussed, and there's real energy that lingers on.

A delicious, easy going Pinot Noir, from the Overberg, that's red fruited, perfumed, and easy-going. Just enough structure here to make you salivate, while the finish lasts an impressive amount of time for a wine at this price point. Very nicely done.