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Chardonnay

A tight, mineral wine with classic Hamilton Russell Vineyards length and complexity. Prominent pear and lime fruit aromas and flavours are brought beautifully into focus by a tight line of bright natural acid and a long, dry minerality. An elegant, yet textured and intense wine with a strong personality of both place and vintage.

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Latest vintage available online via Port2Port.

  • Soil: Low-vigour, stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soil

 

  • Alcohol: 13.40%
  • Acid: 6.80 g/l
  • pH: 3.32
  • Residual Sugar: 1.90 g/l

 

  • Barrel Ageing: 9 Months

 

  • Wooding: 26% 300 litre, 68% 228 litre French Oak Barrels
  • Barrel Fermentation: 94%
  • Foudre: 6%
  • Tight Grain: 100%

 

  • 1st fill: 26%
  • 2nd fill: 32%
  • 3rd fill: 31%
  • 4th fill: 11%

 

  • Hamilton Russell Vineyards Toast

 

  • French Coopers: Francois Freres 100%

 

  • Yield: 2.35 tons/ha, 15.65 hl/ha
  • Production: 3700 cases of 12 bottles equivalent

 

  • Release date – January 2022

 

  • Vegan Friendly

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Growing Season

This stellar vintage was later and cooler than usual. Based on our measure of temperature, the average of the maximum temperatures for the 4 hottest months (crucial to harvest) Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, 2021 came in at 24.3 Centigrade. This compares to 24.8 Centigrade for a long-term average of the equivalent period in Burgundy. In the last 25 years, only 2001, 2004 and 2008 have been cooler. Winter was wetter than usual with 140mm more rain than average, filling dams and building the water table beautifully. Chill units started accumulating later than usual and a cool Spring and later budding accounted for the later harvest. A warm January was a welcome help towards healthy ripening. Any disease pressure from rain showers during ripening was effectively controlled organically. Yields, as always for us, were low.  The Pinot noir harvest finished 10 days later than 2020, and the Chardonnay harvest finished 8 days later. Fruit quality and acidity were exceptional for both. The 2021 wines stand out for their complex, layered elegance, purity and mineral liveliness.

96 Points - Tim Atkin, June 2022

92 Points - Wine Spectator, Alison Napjus, February 2023

91 Points - Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022

96 Points, Wine of the Year - Platter's by Dinersclub, Nov 2022

96 Tim Atkin, June 2022

Aniseed and subtle gunflint notes segue into a balanced, focused palate, with 15% malolactic adding a little cream to the flavours of pear, citrus peel and lemon grass. Classy stuff.

92 Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator - 8 Outstanding Wines from Across the World, Feb 2023

An elegant white, fresh and focussed, with deftly knit layers of ripe yellow plum and apple, salted Marcona almond, honeysuckle and verbena expanding on the palate and through the spice- and mineral-laced finish.

91 Neal Martin, Vinous

It has a very perfumed bouquet with honeysuckle, grapefruit and light wild honey scents that is nicely supported by the oak. The palate is crisp on the entry with fine acidity. There is a fine sharpness to this Chardonnay, a twist of sour lemon and orange rind towards the finish and a saline aftertaste. This is very promising.

Malu Lambert, The Inside Guide, The 12 Best Chardonnays to enjoy in 2023, May 2023

Vintage after vintage, this chardonnay never disappoints – catch the 2020 while you can! Named for the owners’ daughter, this single vineyard is rooted on cooler south- and east-facing slopes in Hemel-en-Aarde on decomposed granite gravels and clays. Complex notes of zesty limes, mandarin juice and lemon balm are underpinned by oatmeal and ginger. A beautiful cool acidity pulls through on the palate, refreshing and lifting, tapering into a chalky-lime finish.

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