Newton Johnson, Family Vineyards Chardonnay 2024

Description

Chardonnay is compelling when it has energy, giving you an impressionists’ experience of natural light. It is an elusive quality that great wines share despite the versatility of the variety.It is more of a winemakers’ wine where observation pays off, and though it is easy to make, in contrast it is surprisingly easy to muddy the message from the vineyard.

The Family Vineyards Chardonnay is comprised of three vineyard sites from the farm, widely varied in their exposure to the sun. The vibrancy, clear cut structure and long flavour we perceive from these granitic slopes is our safeguarded jewel. This well-drained, gravelly soil of mostly quartz, pink feldspar and mica on the lower part of the slope reaches down to deposits of clay. Clay adsorbs water and high concentrations of trace elements for the increasingly complex activity of soil microorganisms, which all contributes to the building blocks of the wine’s crystalline flavour profile. Our south facing Chardonnay vineyards produce edgy and agile wines with nervy acidity, while the north facing slopes are more lustrous wines, delivering weight without being heavy, layering the structure . A natural approach in the winemaking will ensure a complex array of characters in this wine.

TASTING NOTES
Lucid ripe citrus and white peach are inured with ornate spices and lime zest. The fleshiness of the wine is counter balanced with mineral tones and gunflint. The brittle crunch in the structure hems in the lush texture, with an elongated thread of acidity resonating in the finish.

AGEING POTENTIAL
Now – 10 years

2024 GROWING SEASON & HARVESTING
The peerless 2024 vintage has a close resemblance to a warmer 2017, characterised by its flawless ripening conditions, bringing depth to the wines without being overbearing. The most important precursor was having a decent and uninterrupted winter, seeing ample rain early on and the lowest average temperature since the winter of 2016. Ideal dormancy e nsures good fertility in the vines and even budding come springtime. Budding was fairly early due to the early winter. There was plenty of rain early on in September, compounded by the infamous flood that hit the Hemel-en-Aarde on 24 September, delivering over 400mm of rain in 48 hours. Besides the extensive damage to roads, bridges and the course of the Onrus river, the vineyards did not see any damage or disease as the temperatures were still too cold for mildew. The rains
had dissipated by November, though the water sodden soil and fine weather fuelled the vegetative growth in the vines and the flowering was excellent. The fine weather continued, turning to some warm days in the high 20’s (°C) as veraison was finishing. There were no major rain events approaching harvest and the preceding few weeks of warm weather ensured that ripeness was optimal. Despite the early start to the season, the length of ripening was enough to develop layers of complex flavour.

WINEMAKING
The grapes are handpicked and packed in to small, shallow crates to limit crushing of the bunches. The day’s harvest is cooled down overnight to 8ºC in the winery’s refrigerated cold room. The grape bunches are hand -sorted on a conveyor table and fall directly to the press for whole bunch pressing. The be st quality juice (approximately 40% of the press yield) is drained directly to barrel, with the balance settled by temperature only (no enzyme used) and racked the next day to barrel for spontaneous fermentation. No sulphur is used in the winemaking until preparations for bottling, allowing diverse micro-organisms from the grape itself to flourish unrestrained in the fermentation.

MATURATION & BOTTLING
Matured for 11 months in barrique (228L) and puncheon (500L) barrels produced in Burgundy and custom made for these vineyards. The format size of barrel varies from vineyard to vineyard, depending on vine age and the power of expression of each site. Tighter grained oak is preferred for subtle flavour, with longer seasoning and slower, lower temperature toasting. New oak comprises 28%. The wine is racked to stainless steel for another 5 months of élevage. No fining, coarse filtration and sulphur adjustment before bottling.

LOCATION & CLIMATE
These vineyards lie on the mid slopes at altitudes o f 240-260m, in the porphyritic Granite soils of the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. This appellation ranges from 4 to 8 km in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is cool and temperate, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly oceangoing winds through the appellation during the summer. These southerly winds in turn create regular sea mists and overcast conditions, moderating the temperatures in the valley. The annual rainfall is 850mm, with 50% falling in the winter months (May – August)

APPELLATION: Wine of Origin UPPER HEMEL-EN-AARDE VALLEY
SOIL: Carbon rich decomposed granite over red clay subsoil
ASPECT: North (30%), South (45%) South East (25%). Slopes of 11-13%.
TRELISSING: 7-wire Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) with movable wires
AGE OF VINES: 17 – 22 years
PRUNING: Cordon and Double Guyot
VINES PER Ha: 2645 (steep slope with partial terraces) – 4166
AVERAGE YIELD: 4 tons/Ha (27 hl/Ha)

ANALYSIS

Alcohol by volume 13.5 %
Total Acidity 6.6 g/l
pH 3.45
Residual sugar 2.4 g/l

Additional information

Try it with seared oily fish like Salmon or Trout, or an asian inspired sesame crusted Tuna steak.