Cape Chardonnay Is Having A Moment: Our Must-Drink Picks For 2023

Even though there’s a nip in the air, and most people are reaching for voluptuous reds, there’s something wonderfully cockle-warming about enjoying a glass or two of chardonnay beside a fire on a blustery winter’s evening. And with International Chardonnay Day on 25 May, we’ve taken the opportunity to shout about this proudly South African varietal.

Which are your favourites? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

At home anywhere

Chardonnay, the queen of white grapes, was first crushed in the Middle Ages. Since then, it has gone on to conquer the world, aided by the fact that it travels well (unlike its Burgundian contemporary, pinot). Chardonnay can grow anywhere, from the chalky Kimmeridgian soils of its original home all the way down to the tip of Africa.

Famous for making some of the world’s greatest, most long-lived wines, chardonnay’s very ubiquity is likewise responsible for its somewhat tarnished reputation. Its malleability to winemaking techniques (oak, lees stirring) saw its detractors (known as ABCs: Anything But Chardonnay) bemoaning its creamy, high-alcohol and new-oak-flavoured profile in the 1980s.

The winemaker’s grape

It’s easy to see how the winemaking hand slips. Chardonnay loves to be made. Often referred to as the “winemaker’s grape”, it is neutral in expression – in comparison to, say, sauvignon blanc’s exuberant aromatics. Its flavours need to be coaxed out and framed. When done right, the marriage of bright citrus and well-judged oak is a thing of harmonious beauty.

Much of the joy lies in the texture that can be achieved by barrel fermentation and maturation, malolactic conversion and degrees of lees contact. The resulting structure and inherent high acidity of the variety mean chardonnay should become more complex as it ages. That’s not to say it doesn’t respond to where it’s grown. Cooler climes produce steelier, white-fruited versions, and as the region warms, so does the citrus rainbow, waxing into oranges and becoming more tropical and buoyant.

International accolades

Freed from the yoke of being “over-made”, South African chardonnays are increasingly garnering worldwide attention. Stellenbosch’s Jordan Wine Estate was awarded the coveted 2022 International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) White Wine Producer Trophy for the Nine Yards Chardonnay 2020, beating all other international competitors. Likewise, earlier in the year, De Wetshof Bateleur Chardonnay 2020 was one of just five South African wines to receive Platinum status at the Decanter Awards. A fitting achievement for the house that pioneered the grape in Africa in the first place.

Early pioneers

De Wetshof is located in Robertson, the only Cape region with significant deposits of limestone (aka the sea fossils the grape loves to grow on). Frustrated by the slow turn of bureaucracy, patriarch Danie de Wet – along with winemaking friends like Jan Boland Coetzee – were responsible for smuggling in the first Burgundian clones of chardonnay by stitching plant material into the lining of jackets, and hiding it in nappies and boxes of chocolate.

Danie’s son Johann, who has now picked up the baton, enthuses: “Many of our wines can match Burgundy, but the overarching factor for us is a sunny brightness that allows the myriad flavours to shine in the foreground, while structure and texture ensure the experience of these is one of lasting happiness.”

Having a moment

Currently, chenin still dominates the national vineyard, and will most likely continue to do so. Chardonnay slots in at number seven. Still relatively unknown abroad, chenin is largely the go-to on hip winelists and the favourite of geeky sommeliers. And while South African chenin is distinct and widely hailed by critics, it doesn’t cross borders as well as our instantly recognisable chardonnay, and has yet to enter the global consciousness.

As the prices of Burgundy wines skyrocket, they have become unaffordable to most, effectively widening the market. This is where we step in…South Africa offers quality and relative value in comparison. Blurring the lines between the Old and New World, our chardonnays are capable of delivering elegance – with that certain something extra imbued by our sunshine. Make no mistake, Cape chardonnay is having a moment!

A dozen mighty chardonnays

Fall in love with this wine all over again with our top picks.

De Wetshof Bateleur Chardonnay 2020

This elegant wine hails from those original smuggled Burgundian clones planted in 1987. As classic as French linen and just as delicately textured, unspooling white citrus, creamed pears and fresh green apples, dusted in toast and spice from judicious oaking. Cool lemony fruit is wrapped in gossamer swirls from regular bâtonnage, a richness deftly sculpted by precise, limestone-driven acidity. Hazelnuts bloom on the back palate, run through with rivets of waxy honey tapering into a pear-citrus finish. Refreshing yet with unmistakable gravitas.
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Haute Cabrière Chardonnay Réserve 2021

Founder of this family-run estate, Achim von Arnim played a pivotal role in the story of chardonnay. Great friends with Danie de Wet, he procured Robertson chardonnay to produce Franschhoek’s first-ever cap classique. Since then, chardonnay has long been tinkered with here, and the HC Chardonnay Pinot Noir still blend has become a household name. The estate has just released the maiden vintage of the Chardonnay Réserve to further underscore its commitment to the varietal. Light on its feet, this pithy wine extols lemon-lime peels, zesty and fresh-cut citrus and grapefruit zing cosseted in notes of spice and praline from eight months of oak maturation.
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Capensis Silene 2020

Capensis Wines is an ambitious chardonnay-focused project that has literally taken root on the slopes of the beautiful Banhoek Valley. Owned by California’s prominent Jackson Family Wines, Fijnbosch Farm is its home and boasts Stellies’ highest chardonnay vineyard, at almost 600 metres above sea level. Dubbed “an expression of Stellenbosch”, grapes for the Silene come from the home farm as well as select sites in the region. There’s a clean, serene lemony verve and citrus purity to this wine. Distinct saline acidity sheathes right through, lifting and refreshing. Nice chalky backdrop, too.
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Leeu Passant Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2020

Old meets new with the Leeu Passant range by winemakers Chris and Andrea Mullineux (and investor Analjit Singh), inspired by the Cape’s classic mid-century bottlings. This chardonnay hails from a special site on Helderberg Mountain at 410 metres above sea level. It has all the gravitas of an old Cape chardonnay, with a defined texture and sunshiny stone fruit. Beautifully balanced, with a striking saline acidity and a sea-breeze freshness, evoking limes and crushed rock.
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Oldenburg Vineyards Chardonnay 2021

Another award-winner, this Banhoek chardonnay received the Investec International Judges’ Trophy at the 2022 Trophy Wine Show. It’s made from estate grapes grown on alluvial and weathered Table Mountain sandstone soils at 350 metres above sea level. Bunches were sorted by hand and whole-bunch pressed for a subtle, stony expression of Stellenbosch chardonnay. The wine peels off with mandarin, pear and white peach, gracefully supported in a delicately oaked structure and tailing into a long, pithy finish.
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Kershaw Elgin Chardonnay 2019

Richard Kershaw makes clonally selected, site-specific, cool-climate wines in the Overberg, drilling down to the minutiae of clone characteristics to create his distinct wines. Ethereal tones of white citrus and pear blossom are pinned in with mineral intensity to the fine-boned structure from considered oak maturation. Cosseted in cool green apples, lime and nectarine run right through with electric citrus tension, and the purity of fruit slowly evolving into nuttier, spicier characteristics.
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Creation Reserve Chardonnay 2021

Proffering a stable of cool-climate chardies, Creation’s inaugural blocks were planted on virgin soil to keep the vines virus free (even the smallest amounts affect quality). This attention to detail is mirrored in the cellar by Jean-Claude Martin, co-owner, viticulturist and cellarmaster, who creates wines of balance, purity and provenance. This single-vineyard barrel-fermented wine is sublime. Fresh honey, cinnamon and cardamom frame pithy citrus fruit and a mouthwatering line of acid. Ten months of oak maturation on the lees adds licks of butter to pure apples and pears, with an undertow of steely flint.

Thorne & Daughters Copper Pot Chardonnay 2021

The yang to the yin of a pinot noir of the same name continues the modern trajectory of Cape chardonnay. Pitched for everyday drinking, with a modest alcohol content, it’s perfect for just that – though I would reclassify it as “superb everyday drinking”. Southern Cape grapes saw natural ferment in the barrel and nine months of ageing in old oak. Enticing aromatics of crushed seashell layer with orange blossom and thatch. The palate has a lovely energy, and is redolent of pears and summer lemons.
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Jordan Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2020

Like its stellar Nine Yards sibling, this wine also picked up a gold at the IWSC 2022. Long a bastion of quality in the Stellenbosch Hills sub-region, Jordan Estate’s approach of detailed viticulture and winemaking sets it apart. For this wine, a variety of chardonnay clones was harvested from varying slopes at different stages of ripeness, then fermented and matured in French oak – nine months on the lees with occasional rolling of the barrels. A splash of tank-fermented chardonnay invigorates the rich, leesy texture. Opulent, aromatic and cut with fresh citrus.
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Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay 2021

The pinot noir and chardonnay specialists who are credited with pioneering viticulture in the Hemel-en-Aarde perhaps produce the most distinct chardonnay in the region. Its unmistakable fruit purity and length is its calling card. Utterly compelling, a novel in a glass to enjoy while contemplating a rainy day. Ethereal notes of white blossom before crushed lime and white pear; the palate is super-mineral with a crystalline structure, run right through with a fresh line of acid.
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Restless River Ava Marie Chardonnay 2020

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.

Groot Constantia Chardonnay 2020

The Constantia Valley’s cool conditions lend themselves to chardonnay production, though the dominant grape here is sauvignon blanc. This consistent award-winner shows just how immaculate an expression of chardonnay from Cape Town’s vineyards can be. Fermented and matured in barrels, this adds toasted almonds and spice to complement the bright citrus core, tapering into an exquisitely dry and clean finish.
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