The annual Tim Atkin South Africa Special Report is always an interesting barometer for what’s hot and what’s not in the wider Cape winemaking landscape. It remains an impressive body of work albeit written from the point of view of one individual. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, his 95+ point tasting hosted in Cape Town and Johannesburg in 2023 included 29 Chenin Blancs from around the Cape, confirming this cultivar’s quality and standing in the general South African fine wine landscape. But equally of interest, the tasting featured a whopping 20 Chardonnay whites, making it the second biggest awarded white category after the Chenin Blancs. As Tim and other commentators now point out, South Africa has undoubtedly overtaken France and the Loire region as the most lauded, successful, and sought-after dry Chenin Blanc producer in the world.
Chardonnay from the Cape, on the other hand, has the considerable might and prestige of Burgundy to compete with, and then, just when you think you are gaining ground on this undisputed world market leader, collectors and afficionados are quick to rattle off another incredibly impressive list of producers from California, Australia and New Zealand that are making some very highly rated, eminently respected Chardonnay’s that South Africa’s top producers still need to contend with in international markets in order to catch the attention of importers and top collectors.
For those of you familiar with my own website, A Fine Wine Safari, you might remember an incredibly insightful and challenging tasting that a bunch of fine wine afficionados in London pulled off in June 2018. It was born out of the lunch-time banter between some good fine wine friends who quickly aligned themselves as either New World Chardonnay afficionados or consummate Burghounds. The competitive nature of fine wine does this to grown adults… and so was born, the concept of a New World versus Burgundy Chardonnay shoot-out. Each team of tasters would run several rounds, and through a series of blind, scored tastings, they would select their top 10 wines, without budgetary restrictions, to compete against each other in a grand blind taste off.
The results of this tasting were indeed fascinating…
Read the tasting results here:
https://gregsherwoodmw.com/2018/06/18/the-great-blind-chardonnay-challenge-2018-new-world-chardonnay-giving-burgundy-a-run-for-its-money/
… but also served to confirm that yes, white Burgundy even five years ago was still prohibitively expensive from the top producers and even more so today, and yes, the New World could undoubtedly produce wines that rivalled the very best of France. I was of course lucky enough to serve as one of the New World team members on the June 2018 tasting alongside global heavy-weight journalist Neal Martin, who was there to help oversee the proceedings and to help make it a bit of a legendary tasting event… never to be repeated. Well, they do say, never say never!
In early 2023, one of the fine wine judges on our now famous “Judgement of Wimbledon” Grenache blind tasting panel raised the feasibility of presenting another blind Chardonnay Challenge, but this time not pitched against Burgundy directly, but merely featuring some of the best and most highly rated Chardonnays in the world in another blind, judgement-style tasting… this time not in Wimbledon, but in neighbouring Surbiton. Now, I will be the first to admit that “The Judgement of Surbiton” does not quite carry the same gravitas as “The Judgement of Paris”… however, the fine wine aficionado and obsessive South African wine collector behind the idea, Riaan Potgieter, single handedly organised one of the most impressively slick blind tastings I have attended in many years, featuring a line-up of wines from around the world that any Chardonnay fanatic would give their eye teeth to taste individually, let alone altogether.
The wines were as follows:
Rest assured, tasting so many incredible wines was positively gruelling, not in a bad way but in a mentally sapping way. When confronted with so many individually brilliant wines, it is always going to be hard work separating the merely good from the truly great. Among the 19 wines tasted by seven expert tasters, there were four wines from Australia, three from France, one from Germany, one from Italy, two from New Zealand, four from the USA and of course four from South Africa. Wines were generally all rated 97+ from critically acclaimed international reviewers but the range also included two blind hundred pointers from recent releases, namely Giaconda 2021 from Australia and Kistler Laguna Ridge from Sonoma County, USA.
Where the June 2018 Chardonnay Challenge selection failed to include any South African wines, (not for a lack of trying), this tasting featured four stunning wines that performed incredibly well considering the competition. These included a fabulous Kershaw Wines Deconstructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 Chardonnay 2018, a Leeu Passant Chardonnay 2020, a Lismore Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2021, and a Draaiboek Wines Onskuld Chardonnay 2021 from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley made by Stephanie Wiid. On the day, six of the seven tasters certainly did not know what the final line up of wines would be, let alone that it would include four South African wines!
But boy did they perform, with the astonishing final Top 5 line-up including:
1. Littoria BA Theriot 2020, USA
2. Kistler Laguna Ridge 2019 (Magnum), USA
3. Giaconda Beechworth 2021, Aus
4. Leeu Passant 2020, SA
5. Draaiboek Wines Onskuld 2021, SA
Followed by in order of averaged score assessment total:
6. Furst Franconia R 2020, Germany
7. Tolpuddle 2021, Aus
8. Shaw + Smith Lenswood Vineyard 2020, Aus
9. Cullen Kevin John 2021, Aus
10. Ramey Hyde Vineyard 2019, USA
11. Domaine de Montille Puligny Montrachet Les Cailleret 2019, Burgundy
12. Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres 2013, Burgundy
13. Kershaw Decontructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 2018, SA
14. Lismore Estate Reserve 2021, SA
15. Kumeu River Mates Vineyard 2020, NZ
16. Gaja Gaia & Rey 2020, Italy
17. Blank Canvas Reed Vineyard Marlborough 2021, NZ
18. Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 2019, USA
19. Coche Dury Bourgogne 2013, Burgundy
With the current state of ascendancy of South African wines, it seems obvious that this type of blind judgement tasting is going to be repeated regularly in the years to come. Whether they will all feature this calibre of competition from around the world, is another question altogether. I have it on good authority that assembling this selection alone was a fairly laborious, arduous and long-winded affair. For starters, the Giaconda 100-pointer was flown out from Australia as European stock is only going to be released through the Bordeaux Place and the Kistler Laguna Ridge cuvee was only available in magnum format at great expense. Needless to say, an absolutely phenomenal result for South African Chardonnay!
My personal blind tasting notes and individual Chardonnay Challenge 2023 scores were as follows:
Kistler Laguna Ridge 2019 (Magnum), USA
1. Aromatics of oyster shell, lemon peel and sea breeze, with mineral notes of wet stones. Incredible texture and depth, this coats the mouth with an insistent intensity showing an unctuous length of citrus pastille, vanilla wood spice and lemon oil.
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Leeu Passant 2020, SA
2. Taut and fresh, the nose is tight and nervy with crushed rocks, wet stones, lemon peel and dried herbs. Palate is sleek and fresh, energetic, with fresh acids and a tangy, lemon and lime cordial finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lismore Estate Reserve 2021, SA
3. A more smokey, spicy, herby nose with an underlay of burnt wood embers. Palate is broad and plush, fleshy and glycerol with soft acids, tangy mango and green papaya fruits and a lemon confit finish. Quite an oily style.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Kumeu River Mates Vineyard 2020, NZ
4. Quite a stony, mineral flinty nose with a melange of smoky reduction and sweet lemon and herb nuances. Acids are fresh and vibrant, notably tangy with pronounced savoury wood spice length.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Littoria BA Theriot 2020, USA
5. Nose is elegant and cool, even restrained, showing mojito and mint leaf, dried herbs and lime blossom. The acids are laser fresh and tart, adding a fine frame to the cool, lemon and lime peel fruits. Wonderfully integrated oak massages the fruit beautifully. True class.
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 2019, USA
6. A very exotic nose with fig and tropical nuances, waxy apple peel and lanolin hints. The palate is broad and rich, perhaps a touch ponderous and creamy, quite spicy and mineral with petrichor hints, but lacks a bit of verve and vigour on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Coche Dury Bourgogne 2013, Burgundy
7. Exotic nose with rhubarb and fennel, wet slate and dried herbs. Palate is taut and tart with a sour acidity, lime zest, savoury lemon, and a massive length and intensity.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Cullen Kevin John 2021, Aus
8. A wonderfully fresh, vibrant, lime peel and cordial aromatics, so pure and classical with subtle hints of incense. Palate is fresh, taut and tangy with sweet – sour acids, and a massive lemon & herb fruit length. Beautifully pithy and zesty on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Furst Franconia R 2020, Germany
9. A more savoury aromatics with hints of biscuit, oat meal, dried herbs and wet river stones. Palate is fabulously clean, lean and restrained with a fine crystallinity, smoky minerality, and waxy green apple finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Tolpuddle 2021, Aus
10. Deep, wet chalk and struck flint nose with plenty of SO2 floating around with a dusty minerality, vinyl and lemon pith. The reduction follows to the palate with a lemon, apple and vinyl note. Made in a skinny reductive style, this needs more time in bottle.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Ramey Hyde Vineyard 2019, USA
11. Taut shy mineral nose, full of star fruit, hints of honeydew melon and a touch of lemon biscuit. Quite fresh and crystalline, with a really freshly pressed blood orange and tangerine juice intensity.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres 2013, Burgundy
12. A complex but exotic nose with hints of oat meal, chalk, chablislesque minerality and green apple. Lovely notes of savoury pear purée, a hint of reduction, taut and sleek, mineral and classical. Spicy and pithy on the long finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Giaconda Beechworth 2021, Aus
13. A notably reductive nose with wet slate, petrichor, apple peel, chalk and apple cordial. Cool, sleek and elegant, this is a wine with precision, poise and focus expressed with intelligent winemaking.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Shaw + Smith Lenswood Vineyard 2020, Aus
14. Granitic spice, crushed rock, lime peel, green melon, and pistachio macaroons. Clean, intense and pristine with a piquant, pithy limey finish. Such lovely intensity, a sweet – sour palate breadth and a limey saline persistence.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine de Montille Puligny Montrachet Les Cailleret 2019, Burgundy
15. Hints of spicy apple cider, lemon, biscuit, and pear purée aromatics. Palate is soft, cool and fleshy with a crisp but soft integrated acidity, a real elegance and finesse. The palate is smoky, mineral and crystalline, sleek, pure and very fine.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Draaiboek Wines Onskuld 2021, SA
16. Nose shows dusty aromatics, talc, sherbet, lime bon bons, wet stones and sweet baking spices. Palate sings with tart apple, crunchy pear, white citrus and a saline, pithy dry bitter lemon finish. Quite a cerebral wine.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Gaja Gaia & Rey 2020, Italy
17. Sweet confected lift with melon, bon bons, rock candy, with apple and pear boiled sweets. Cool, tangy and crystalline with apple cordial and lime juice hints, finishing with a soft, pithy mineral finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Kershaw Decontructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 2018, SA
18. Sweet pear, hints of flinty reduction, savoury oat meal and buttered white toast. There is a massive intensity, richness and tangy freshness with an incredibly salty maritime finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Blank Canvas Reed Vineyard Marlborough 2021, NZ
19. Big, bold intense punchy aromatics that are shrouded in reductive flinty, smoky, stony notes. The palate reveals a magnificent clarity and precision, with the most seductive salty oyster shell notes of chalk stone and citrus. Beautifully fresh and intense, this wine is young but screams class!
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)