2022 CHARDONNAY, Southend Vineyard, Newton Johnson. S.Africa

Hemel-en-Aarde is the name of the valley above Hermanus. The larger region is called Walker Bay and Hamilton Russell were the people who made it famous – as a cool climate source of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, back when South Africa was only learning how to make wines of freshness and balance.

Chardonnay, fermented (with natural yeasts) and matured half in steel and half in barrel, with only a very small proportion of new wood each year (7%).

Founded by Dave Johnson and Felicity Newton (now Johnson) in 1995 and now run by sons, Bevan and Gordon. They have just under 20 hectares of land at 150-300m.

And to quote from their website:

“Southend is a single vineyard wine that lies in the shadow of the Babylonstoring Mountains in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and is owned and farmed by our neighbours, the Pringle family. It is a notably cooler slope, a stone’s throw across the river from us, with less sunshine and consequently slower ripening. It produces wines with sparkling clarity, high-toned fruit flavours, compact structure, and vibrant acidity. We preserve these features by fermenting in larger format casks that often ferment slowly in to the winter. This parcel takes a steely and light-footed point of difference from the other Chardonnay vineyards of our appellation.”

In modern style (not too oaky or heavy) but in no way lean or hard; this is proper Chardonnay, made with sensitivity.