2018 Storm, Vrede, Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa

Storm Wines

Winemaker Hannes Storm worked 12 vintages in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley before he discovered two parcels of land with exceptional terroir and embarked on his eponymous project, Storm Wines. His aspiration is clear: to create wines with a sense of place. His natural approach and careful viticulture produce classically proportioned wines with distinctive personality and an innate purity.

Storm focuses on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Located in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, their three vineyard sites – Ignis, Vrede and Ridge – each possess an individual character. Storm Wines is now the only producer with Pinot Noirs from each of the three appellations in the Hemel-en-Aarde.

The Ignis vineyard is located on a northern slope in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. The vineyard is cluttered with round pebbles on the soil surface with underlying decomposed granite. The Ridge and Vrede sites both rest on a cool, eastern slope in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, with low-vigour, stony, clay-rich Bokkeveld shale soils and a cool Atlantic Ocean influence, producing wines with high natural acidity and cool minerality.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.

Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.

Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.