Winemag.co.za presents the Prescient Chardonnay Report 2016

Thursday, 27 October, 2016
Jacqueline Lahoud
In conjunction with Prescient, a multinational financial services provider, Winemag.co.za is pleased to present the sixth annual Chardonnay Report (previously the Christian Eedes Chardonnay Report).

When Chardonnay is at its best, it’s arguably the grape responsible for the greatest dry white wine in the world, whatever lovers of Riesling might like to think. It has a universal following, by far the best selling wine, white or red, in the United States for instance. And there is a well-established frame of reference when it comes to discussion of style and quality, the traditional home of the variety being Burgundy in the northeast of France where it has been grown for centuries but benchmark examples occurring around the world especially from Australia and California, USA.

In South Africa, serious attempts at growing the grape date from the early 1980s and the variety is currently the seventh most planted making up just over 7% of the national vineyard. All of the above makes the South African wine industry’s efforts with it worthy of scrutiny.

There were 60 wines in the line-up, submission by invitation only. 35 wines were rated 90 or higher on the 100-point quality scale and these were recognised during an event held at SMITH Studio in Cape Town on Wednesday, 19 October.

The top wines were as follows:

95
DeMorgenzon Reserve 2015
Groot Constantia 2015
Kershaw Deconstructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 2015
Tokara Reserve Collection Stellenbosch 2015

94
Iona 2015
Kershaw Elgin Clonal Selection 2015
Sterhuis Barrel Selection 2015

93
Delaire Graff Banghoek Reserve 2015
De Wetshof Bateleur 2014
Eikendal 2015
Hartenberg 2015
Kershaw Deconstructed Groenland Mountain Bokkeveld Shale CY548 2015
Uva Mira The Single Tree 2015

92
Ataraxia 2014
Rustenberg Stellenbosch 2015

91
Bartinney Hourglass 2015
Chamonix Reserve 2015
Evidence 2015 (Sophie & Julien Schaal)
Kershaw Deconstructed Groenland Mountain Koffieklip CY96 2015
Longridge Clos du Ciel 2014
Matthew Van Heerden Signature Wines 2015
Oak Valley Elgin 2015
Paul Cluver Seven Flags 2015
Radford Dale 2015
StellenRust Barrel Fermented 2015
Vergelegen Reserve 2015
Warwick White Lady 2015
Yardstick 2014

90
Capensis 2014
Bouchard Finlayson Missionvale 2014
Buitenverwachting 2015
Longridge Organic 2015
Rustenberg Five Soldiers 2014
Sumaridge 2014
Thelema 2014

Winemag.co.za will be hosting two Public Tasting events to showcase the top performing Chardonnays: 1 November in Johannesburg at Café Cru, Montecasino and on 2 November at Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Cape Town. See the website for further details.

Join the conversation and follow the action on twitter #PrescientChard

For the full report, visit www.winemag.co.za

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De Morgenzon Chardonnay
De Morgenzon Chardonnay

Kershaw Deconstructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 2015
Kershaw Deconstructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 2015

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