2020 Chardonnay 'Clonal Selection', Kershaw Your Store

2020 Chardonnay 'Clonal Selection', Kershaw

Elgin, Western Cape, South Africa

An exceptional Chardonnay from the amazing cool-climate region of Elgin.  Restrained, mineral style focussed on elegance with a white fruit character, some oatmeal and some complexity gained from percipient applied wood.  Only 15982 bottles and 70 Magnums.

The grapes come from eight to 10 small parcels of vineyards in several locations in the Elgin Valley. Elgin is the coolest wine region in South Africa and is situated on an inland, hexagonal-shaped plateau, at an altitude of 300 metres. The region is surrounded by mountains and lies just over six miles from the Atlantic Ocean, which brings occasional sea-borne mists. February is the hottest month of the year, with daytime temperatures peaking at 23°C and night-time temperatures dipping to 14°C. The benefit of this cooler climate is that the grape cluster stays connected to its roots for longer, so it develops complex characteristics and achieves physiological ripeness more gradually, resulting in lower sugar levels and consequently lower alcohol levels.

Whats in the bottle
100% Chardonnay

£49.50
Taxes included.
  • Producer Information
  • Winemaking
  • Tech Stuff

In 2012, owner Richard Kershaw MW, established Richard Kershaw Wines to create clonally selected, site-specific, cool climate wine paradigms from apposite noble grapes i.e. ones with the ability to produce world-class examples. SA’s coolest wine district, Elgin Valley, reflected these principles benefitting from higher altitude, ocean proximity, specific cloud cover sequencing, high cold units and a large diurnal range, enabling the germane grapes, Chardonnay, Syrah and more recently Pinot Noir, to show a sense of place.

Grapes were hand-picked in the early autumnal mornings, placed into small lug baskets and tipped directly into a press before being gently whole-bunch pressed up to a maximum of 0.6 bar or until a low juice recovery of 615 litres per ton was obtained using our new Willmes Sigma 5 press. The juice gravity-flowed directly to barrel (no pumps were used at all) without settling. The unclarified juice had no enzymes or yeast added to it and therefore underwent spontaneous fermentation until dry, with malolactic discouraged. The wine rested in barrel for 4 months prior to judicious sulphuring and a further 7 months’ maturation in barrel before racking, blending and bottling.
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">BARREL SELECTION: </span>A small number of artisanal coopers were selected, all from Burgundy and only French oak was chosen. Importantly, each clone and soil type was micro vinified as separate batches. Each batch used an algorithm that we have developed to ascertain which coopers work best and how many new and used barrels are utilised. Overall, the average in 2018 was 39.4% new oak; 82.2% 228 l and 17.8% 500 l.</p>

Country
South Africa

Grape
Chardonnay

Producer
Kershaw

Region
Western Cape

Size
750ml

Sub-Region
Elgin

Types
White Wine

Vintage
2020

2020 Chardonnay 'Clonal Selection', Kershaw

£49.50

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