The 2025 Hamilton Russell production sees a slight volume recovery on the 2024 vintage but remains still well below normal. Fortunately, the 2025 Chardonnay quality, like the 2024, is truly superb, the wine boasting gorgeous notes of fragrant white blossoms and waxy bergamot lemons with delicate salted green pistachio hints. Delicately nutty on the nose and palate, the limestone mineral vein is never far away, combining with intense crystalline notes of lemon and lime cordial, salted caramel, and crunchy green apple fruits, finishing with superb concentration and a vibrantly tangy acidity. This is top notch Chardonnay from an excellent vintage in the Valley.

"Lovely and pristine" is how Emul Ross describes the 2025 vintage in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. This Chardonnay is correspondingly bright and refreshing, with scented 24% new oak, a savoury undertone from wild fermentation, mid-palate texture from 30% malolactic and
flavours of lemongrass and tangerine.

Anthony Hamilton Rus­sell is one of the most urbane and cour­teous fel­lows in the Cape. While all around him middle-aged, cre­at­ively hir­sute, boho-wine­makers con­sume much of South Africa’s wine oxy­gen, AHR ploughs a thor­oughly civ­il­ised fur­row, craft­ing wines of uncom­mon refine­ment and global appeal. Since he assumed respons­ib­il­ity for his estate back in 1991, the chardon­nays and pinots here have under­gone a gradual, unre­lent­ing refine­ment, attain­ing world-class notori­ety, yet prices remain fair and unusu­ally enti­cing. Only the other day, Anthony showed me pre­views of his 2025 chardon­nay and 2025 pinot noir. Arriv­ing in April, these are finely wrought, min­eral-soaked, ultra­soph­ist­ic­ated wines with tran­scend­ent fla­vours. You should seek them out when they arrive. They will drink well from the off and age per­fectly for five years. At around £45 a throw, they ought to be atop your Bur­gundy-style wish list.

After tasting these in the office earlier this week with the team, I could not agree more. The 2025 releases are superb wines which can certainly give Burgundy a run for its money!

Opening with a lemony freshness and supple orchard fruit tones. Notably generous on the nose, this showcases the delicate use of oak too; a slender mention of cinnamon complements a richer tone of yellow peach. On the palate, the warmth comes through, showcasing more of that supple autumnal fruit. It is quite broad, mouth-filling and creamy, the fruit is definitely present, but not overwhelming, rather playing a supporting role to the carefully managed oak component and emphatic acidity. A brilliantly executed Chardonnay from one of South Africa’s best-known producers.

Shows a sense of delicacy and finesse, with fine china-like acidity providing lovely definition for an expressive range of Honeycrisp apple, apricot, salted Marcona almond, white blossoms and candied ginger. Clean-cut and tangy on the finish, with a hint of petrol and the tang of tangerine peel.

This is nuanced on the nose, gaining intensity with white peach, almond and crushed stone scents, the oak neatly integrated and, overall, nicely focused. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, bright and citrus-fresh with hints of marmalade and blood orange. There is just the right amount of bitterness that lends edge and sapidity on the finish. This is a strong Chardonnay from winemaker Emul Ross and it will mature in bottle too.