Lelie van Saron Chardonnay Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
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ABOUT Now in its sixth vintage, this wine is definitely becoming a standard for minimally handled Hemel-en-Aarde Chardonnay. The Debos Vineyard is just on the north side of the dam for which it is named at the base of the Babylonstoren Mountains. It’s located just 3 miles from the Atlantic ocean, and the vines are dry-farmed, guyot-trellised, and planted in a high-density fashion with 6,667 vines per hectare. Known for its granite soils, the one-hectare Debos Vineyard yields about 5.5 tons/hectare. The resulting wines are aromatic and elegant, with pure fruit expression. The grapes were handpicked and then hand sorted at the winery prior to being whole-bunch pressed with an overnight settling to get the chunky stuff naturally filtered out. The following morning the wine was racked and spontaneous fermentation commenced within two days at the ambient cellar temperature in a mixture of concrete tanks and older French 225 & 300L oak barrels. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation were completed gradually over two months with no battonage. It was then fined, coarsely filtered, and bottled with a small dosage of sulfur. DATA Grapes: 100% Chardonnay Vineyard: DeBos Vineyard Vine Age: 13-years-old Soil Type: Cartref: a mixture of granite, sandstone and quartz Viticulture: Sustainable - dry-farmed and no herbicides or pesticides Fermentation: Native – whole-bunch pressed to 50% concrete tank and 50% neutral 225L & 300L French barrels Skin Contact: None Aging: 12 months in fermentation vessels (adding 5-10% new oak) Alcohol: 12.96% pH: 3.5 Total Acidity: 5.7 g/L Total SO2: 73 ppm Total Production: 392 cases UPC: 6009820030451 TASTING NOTE The nose shows pithy citrus fruits with limestone minerality and subtle hints of vanilla. The palate displays excellent varietal purity with a linear, mineral structure balanced by ripe mandarin, peach and stone fruit. A long finish with lingering acidity. PRESS Tim Atkin, MW | 91 Vinous | 92