A touch of flint and a stony minerality makes this a steelier and more linear expression than the maiden vintage, although the palate is sumptuous; key lime pie and a tart lemon curd are cut with grapefruit peel and fresh golden delicious apple. The preserved lemon acidity is both fresh, grippy and saline, giving the wine structure, length and zing.

The maiden vintage of Ferrum Chardonnay was made from a single vineyard on Crystallum’s own land at Shaw’s Mountain, just outside the Hemel-en-Aarde region near Hermanus.