Chardonnay

This wine will complement fattier and rich fish dishes such as salmon, talbot and shellfish such as clams, mussels, oysters and lobster. Pairs exceptionally with Coquilles St. Jacques. It works well with seared foie grass, complex salads and most cheeses.

Almenkerk Wine Estate is a small family-owned wine estate situated in the Elgin valley just east of Cape Town South Africa. The estate is owned by the Belgian/Dutch van Almenkerk family and run by Natalie and Joris van Almenkerk. Whilst Joris has fun making award-winning wines Natalie is in charge of sales and marketing PR and admin. Patriarch Joep helps out with sales frequent wine tastings and as a mentor on the business side. As well as that we have a dedicated group of family and friends that come over to help us out by opening the tasting room when we are not around or assisting with the harvest. We’d love to welcome you to our estate in the beautiful cool-climate Elgin Valley. Come for a tasting and enjoy the spectacular views across the valley and vineyards whilst we share our story and wines with you.

The grapes used to make this wine are all from the same block, called Annabelle after our eldest daughter. This sandy loam block is located on the coldest site of the farm; assuring us of winter frost every winter and thus providing the Chardonnay vines with the required cold units to bud uniformly year after year. The vines are not irrigated throughout the ripening season, forcing them to dig their roots deeper in search of water. The oldest portion (clone 3) was planted in 2005 and forms the backbone of our Chardonnay. The newer planting (clone 95) was only planted in 2011 and adds complexity. Through the use of NDVI photography and satellite images, we have split the block into 4 units that are picked on different days in order to get full ripeness for the respective vigour zones. These zones are managed individually and will be subjected to varying degrees and methods of leaf plucking, tipping, topping and green harvesting. Through our sustainable practices of enhancing soil health (e.g. packing the pruning canes under the vines, use of cover crops & introducing microbial life) we are able to farm without herbicides or inorganic fertilisers. This results in healthier vines, fully ripe grapes at lower sugar levels and wines with less residues and lower alcohol levels.

After fermentation, the wine undergoes lees contact for an average of 10 months on the gross lees without bâtonnage. Newer barrels are left longer (11 months) to achieve full integration while older barrels are emptied at 8-9 months to retain freshness. All batches & barrel treatments are kept separately. Each barrel gets assessed individually for its suitability in our Almenkerk range.

After gentle pressing and cold settling, the majority of the wine is gravity-fed into small French oak barrels (228 - 300L) of which 47% is new barrels and left to start natural (wild yeast) fermentation. Barrel selection is based on 10 years of experience working the same grapes from the same block. Completing fermentation can take from 3 weeks to 3 months for individual barrels.