Limitados Chardonnay

Serve well chilled with white meat dishes, pasta, and lightly spiced dishes.

Situated on the lime-rich soils on the cliff banks of the Duivenhoks River, Baleia is a unique terroir standing alone on this beautiful district of the Cape South Coast. A stone’s throw away from Sebastian’s Bay and the towns of Vermaklikheid and Stilbaai, the wines smell of the ocean!

Our Chardonnay vineyard is planted on almost pure, hard limestone soil which imparts a distinctive minerality and juicy acidity to the grapes and eventual wine. This 11-year-old vineyard is located only 9 km from the ocean on a 7 degrees south-facing slope. Harvest time is determined purely on taste, the culmination of regular sampling by the winemaker to ensure the character of the grapes correlate with the wine style he envisions. The grapes were picked in the crisp early morning hours to capture the full varietal flavour spectrum at its freshest and most vibrant. 2022 had a very dry spring and early growing season but ended off with a wet late December and January. This led to one of the earliest harvests for Baleia. A bright fruit vintage. The limestone soils provide the ideal canvas to work with as the natural acidity and structured minerality intertwine beautifully with the elegant use of French Oak. Linearity with complexity to produce age-worthy Chardonnay, is foremost in the winemaker's mind when crafting this limited production offering

6 Rows were carefully selected from a 12-row single vineyard block. The grapes were handpicked and destalked to press. The Juice settled cold overnight and were racked off in the morning to a stainless-steel tank for initiation of fermentation. This vintage was fermented for 11 months in a combination of 1st and 2nd Fill 300L French Oak Barrels. 50% First fill and 50% 2nd Fill.