KWV The Mentors Chardonnay 2011

A well balanced and medium bodied wine, displaying the true characters of cool climate Chardonnay from Elgin. The nose has beautiful floral, citrus blossom and apricot aromas with fresh lime and mineral tones. This elegant wine has subtle hints of cedary oak, raw almonds with a lively and persistent lingering finish. Barrel matured for 9 months and also in the bottle for 6 months prior to release.

Winemaker's Comment
Producing a Chardonnay under the Mentors label has been a vision and journey for a couple of years. The whole journey began by experimenting with grapes from various vineyard sites and applying different vinification techniques to them. Skillful selection of oak by cooper, forest type and toasting level, all to ensure that the true grape attributes and fruit characteristics are complimented and amplified by the oak. To achieve our vision, we kept in mind that Chardonnay is known to be more easily influenced by winemaking techniques. Thus the reasoning behind vinifying the same juice, as 4 separate components; then blending them back together proportionally. All of this was done with the sole purpose to produce a world class, stylistic wine filled with individuality.

Enjoy on its own or with salads, light white meat dishes or Thai food.

variety : Chardonnay [ 100% Chardonnay ]
winery : The Mentors
winemaker : The Winemaking Team
wine of origin : Elgin
analysis : alc : 13.0 % vol  rs : 3.61 g/l  pH : 3.16  ta : 6.83 g/l  
type : White   wooded
pack : Bottle  closure : Cork  

AWARDS
Veritas Wine Awards 2013 - Silver
Novare SA Terrior Wine Awards 2013: Elgin District - Top Chardonnay
Decanter World Wine Awards 2013 - Silver Medal
Five Nations Wine Challenge 2012 - Double God (SA)
Veritas Wine Awards 2012 - Silver
Winemakers' Choice Awards 2012 - Diamond Stauts
Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2012 - Miele Trophy for Best Chardonnay
Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2012 - Best White Wine Trophy
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2012: Chardonnay 2011 - Silver
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2011: Chardonnay 2010 - Gold

ageing : This wine will benefit from bottle aging for 3 - 5 years.

in the vineyard : 

Wine of Origin: Elgin


Treatment in vineyard

Vineyards are hand pruned and harvested. Good pre-harvest moisture in the soil provided

resistance against the late season heat waves. Together with the healthy canopy, grapes were left longer on the vine to ensure that optimal ripeness was reached at harvest.


Vintage Conditions

The 2011 growing season will be remembered for its erratic weather changes, which posed several challenges to winemakers and viticulturist alike. A cold, but late 2010 winter preceded the growing season providing much needed rest to the vineyards. The harvest season was characterized by a warm summer and along with the lower than average rainfall this resulted in lower yield, smaller bunches and consequently riper flavours. Grape quality in general was superb, with the season delivering optimally ripe, healthy grapes, with great concentration.

about the harvest: Yield: 7t/ha
Harvest Date: March
Balling at Harvest: 23.6°

in the cellar : The wine is a blend of 2 vineyards from the Elgin region and both components were fermented in barrel. 70% of the blend was fermented with an indigenous yeast strain to enhance the texture and mouth feel of the wine and the other  30% was inoculated with commercial yeast to ensure maximum cultivar derived fruit flavours and freshness. Only 20% of the wine was allowed to undergo partial malolactic fermentation to add complexity into the final blend.

Post fermentation the wine was left on extended lees contact for 80 days and stirred regularly during this period. Thereafter the wine was racked and placed back into barrel for maturation until November.

Maturation: 9 months in French Oak (50% new, 30% 2nd, 20% 3rd)

Total Production: 5 300 bottles

Bottling Date: January 2011

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