Richard Kershaw 'Clonal Selection' Chardonnay Single Bottle
Country: South Africa Region: Elgin
Vintage: 2018 Varietal: Chardonnay
Colour: White Producer: Richard Kershaw
Alcohol: 13.5%
Description:
In 2012, owner Richard Kershaw MW, established Richard Kershaw Wines to create clonally selected, site-specific, cool climate wine paradigms from apposite noble grapes i.e. ones with the ability to produce world-class examples. SA’s coolest wine district, Elgin Valley, reflected these principles benefitting from higher altitude, ocean proximity, specific cloud cover sequencing, high cold units and a large diurnal range, enabling the germane grapes, Chardonnay, Syrah and more recently Pinot Noir, to show a sense of place.
VINTAGE: Hand-Picking Dates: 1st – 20th March 2018 Brix at Harvest: 22.5 – 23.7
SEASON: The trend of below average winter-rainfall which begun in the winter of 2015 persisted in the winter of 2017. Thus, soils were drier and cover crops less established as the 2018 season began. However, this must be seen in the context of Elgin, one of the most reliable areas with regards rainfall and the storage thereof. Despite a reduction in rain, Elgin was still a lot better off than the rest of the South African wine areas. What did cause a reduction in our seasonal yield was wet, cool and windy weather during flowering.
WINEMAKING: Grapes were hand-picked in the early autumnal mornings, placed into small lug baskets and tipped directly into a press before being gently whole-bunch pressed. The wine rested in barrel for 4 months prior to judicious sulphuring and a further 7 months’ maturation in barrel before racking, blending and bottling.
BARREL SELECTION: A small number of artisanal coopers were selected, all from Burgundy and only French oak was chosen.
Food Matches: Lobster or Turbot in a cream sauce. Shellfish and Chicken.
