Capensis Chardonnay 2013

Wine of Origin: Western Cape

Winemaker: Graham Weerts

Vineyard Manager: Rosa Kruger

Background: Capensis is a joint venture between two great friends in wine, Barbara Banke, who is Chairman and Director of Jackson Family Wines, USA, and Antony Beck who is Director of Graham Beck Wines. Barbara and Antony, who also share a passion for raising and racing Thoroughbreds, wanted to showcase and honour Chardonnay from the Cape and bring in a new era of winemaking.

They commissioned highly experienced Vineyard Manager Rosa Kruger to seek out the Cape’s finest Chardonnay vineyards for the project and to work closely with Jackson Family’s head winemaker Graham Weerts (ex Bellingham).

For the first vintage they settled on three select vineyards in the Cape which consist of primarily alluvial and clay soils. The steep slopes and high elevation of the Fijnbosch Vineyard in the Banghoek Valley contributes 60 percent to the final blend and offers the wines natural acidity and complexity. 20 percent of the grapes come from the sought after Kaaimansgat vineyard high up (757 metres) in the Overberg with the last 20 percent harvested from the limestone rich vineyards of E Bruwer Vineyard in Robertson. The wine was aged for 12 months in new French oak prior to bottling and will be available towards the end of March this year.

Result: The wine is supple in structure, polished in texture, juicy with peach, pear, lime and mineral favours. Complex and smooth it offers plenty of depth with an impressive length on the finish.

When to drink: Now until 2020

Drink with what: Crayfish Thermidor

Expect to pay: Only 1000 bottles of this wine were produced, so ask your wine merchant to reserve a couple of bottles for you. Estimated price around R900 a bottle.

To order this wine, email Wine Concepts