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#368 Almenkerk Chardonnay 2022

TECHNICAL SPECS

🔬 Wine of origin Elgin. A mix of clones CY3 and CY95. The fruit is fermented with native yeasts only, and malolactic conversion is discouraged (for the most part).

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WHAT IS SOUTH AFRICA’S COLDEST WINE REGION?

There are a number of regions vying for the title, like Agulhas on the South Coast, which is the most southerly wine region in Africa.

Then there is the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, which has the Atlantic ocean right on it’s doorstep.

One might even consider Constantia, which is practically surrounded by the Atlantic, and then in complete contrast to all these overtly coastal areas, you have Elgin’s Kingdom of clouds, with vineyards between 200m and almost 900m ASL.

Finally there is the Ceres Plateau, at over 1000m, and which gets snow during the winter almost every single year.

But is there an outright winner?

While the data gets a little murky at times (because the “coldness” of a wine region isn’t measured purely by lowest annual average temperature bu rather by the number of “cold units” that get accumulated), the top three regions are undisputed:

the absolute COLD UNIT wine region champion of South Africa is… Elgin, with Hemel-en-Aarde in second, and the high lying Ceres Plateau in third.

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But if you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you’ll have to hunt this wine down in your own time. But until then, here are my tasting notes and some technical specs:

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TASTING NOTES

👃🏼The wine opens with a big generous nose of lemon leaf,

freshly squeezed limes, barley candy, gun smoke, and macadamia nut. The fruit is perfectly balanced by the oak.

👄 The most glorious steely razor-sharp Granny smith apple acidity opens proceedings balanced by juicy sweet lime cordial. Those mineral and bnut elements for beautiful layering over the tightly wound fruit.

Finally the finish on this wine just goes and goes. Supremely impressive; longer than P.Diddy’s rap sheet.

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