2023 Chardonnay, Ataraxia Your Store

2023 Chardonnay, Ataraxia

Western Cape, South Africa

This is a fabulous Chardonnay from South African winemaking star, Kevin Grant.  His wines are highly regarded for their minimalist, non-interventionist winemaking style.  This 2022 Chardonnay is a world-class South African barrel-fermented Chardonnay.

In the glass, it is subtle yet intense, with hints of sun-warmed tropical fruits, gentle peach and vanilla. Fresh on entry with crisp acidity, subtle tropical notes and neatly integrated toasty oakiness.   A New World wine in provenance but Old World in stylistic leaning.

Spontaneous and complete barrel fermentation and subsequent ageing in specially selected French oak barrels sourced exclusively from Burgundian coopers, comprised part of a gentle, minimalist, non-interventionist winemaking approach employed after the “bludgeoning” that occurred at the press. In this way, Ataraxia have crafted an astonishing and arrestingly authentic wine interpretation of a terroir ideally suited to Chardonnay.

Whats in the bottle
100% Chardonnay

£33.00
Taxes included.

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  • Producer Information
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Located in the Hemel-en-Aarde on petrified sand dunes, Ataraxia was founded in 2004 by husband and wife team Kevin and Hanli Grant. A former Zoologist, Kevin spent years getting to know the intricacies of Hemel-en-Aarde`s terroir as head winemaker of Hamilton Russel. Ataraxia is a deeply personal project for Kevin – along with some dear friends, he purchased 50 hectares of prime vineyard land in an exceptional landscape, known as `The Skyfields`. Nestled on this commanding rise beneath the soaring Babylons Toren mountain range, the vineyards are planted on some of the most spectacular terroirs South Africa has to offer.

Kevin’s approach to winemaking is minimalist and non-interventionist, geared to reflect a sense of place and expression of terroir. There are fourteen soil types on Ataraxia derived from the deposits of Table Mountain Sandstone, Cape Granite and Bokkeveld Shale. Collectively, these deposits make up the geology of the Hemel-en-Aarde area and can be traced back more than 1000 million years. This means they are cultivating some of the most ancient soils on Earth.

After nearly two decades of nurturing this special place, Kevin continues to make wines of incredible finesse, balance and depth with great international acclaim.

From the winemaker: This vin de terroir is Ataraxia’s forward-looking BLACK Chardonnay. In our quest to express the soul of our terroir accurately and authentically (over trying to conjure an expression of the grape itself through winemaking alchemy), we first used this old, almost forgotten, traditional Burgundian method for the 2020 vintage, and have continued to do so ever since. Rather than pressing gently, the fruit was vigorously worked. It almost felt like an act of violence! Then, instead of denying the must (juice) oxygen, it was generously aerated. Black magic happened when juice as dark as ebony as it flowed from the press, was transformed into a shimmering, green-tinted yellow hue by the end of fermentation. The science behind this method is that the more oxygen the must absorbs, the less oxygen is consumed by the wine, which then has much more resistance against oxidative degradation (yellowing) during ageing.


Country
South Africa

Grape
Chardonnay

Producer
Ataraxia

Region
Western Cape

Size
750ml

Sub-Region
Hemel-en-Aarde

Types
White Wine

Vintage
2023

2023 Chardonnay, Ataraxia

£33.00

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