Anna Reserve Chardonnay

Forest mushroom risotto topped with truffle oil and parmesan.

Sutherland Vineyards is situated just 9 kms off the Atlantic Ocean with altitudes of 140 to 250 meters above sea level. The cool maritime climate allows for slower ripening than in other Cape Wineland areas producing wines with vibrant concentrated fruit flavours and an elegant minerality. All Sutherland wines are bottled and produced at the estate in Stellenbosch.

Faced with severe drought, the challenging conditions of the 2018 harvest resulted in one of the smallest yields in years. Yet despite the significant difficulties, the cooler ripening period and smaller crops produced berries with concentrated flavour and intense colour providing wines of notable quality.

The wine was aged in barrel for 10 months with periodic stirring of the lees. Five new French oak barrels which best reflect their sites were selected from amongst our five chardonnay vineyards. A light plant-based protein fining was applied, followed by bottling.

Our decision of when to pick a vineyard is influenced by the idea of retaining natural grape acidity and obtaining sufficient ripeness of fruit but with without excessive alcohol levels. This wine underwent alcoholic fermentation in new French oak barrels, to retain freshness, malolactic fermentation was kept to a minimum.