JULIEN SCHAAL

MOUNTAIN VINEYARD

"Chardonnay"

W.O. CAPE SOUTH COAST

Vineyards

The grapes come 2 vineyards. One from ELGIN – A Cape's coolest viticultural area and has a unique climate and topography, consisting of an upland basin plateau, surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. This region shows climatic similarities to Walker bay, only slightly warmer by comparison. The Terroir is very stony and mixed with red clay.

Second from Upper Hemel-en-Aarde. The soil is predominantly Malmesbury Shale (a duplex structure). The top layer consists of a mixture of clay (15-30%) and gravel (ironstone and granite particles) and the lower layer is clay shale, which secures a source of moisture. The valley is surrounded and sheltered by a mountain barrier, formed by Galpin Peak (810 meters) and the Tower of Babel (1200 meters), which traps the cloud cover and moisture brought in from the sea by the prevailing wind..

Cellar

The winemaking process detaches itself from industry, and honouring tradition. The grapes are picked by hand at the coolest time of the day. After a gentle pressing, and a stating setting, the juice goes to 300 litres barrels and tank, start the fermentation with wild yeast. The 300L barrell size helps the wine to develop complexity and terroir aromas. The idea is to keep as much as possible the minerality of the wine and the freshness. We don't want to have any malo lactic fermentation as we believe it would change the aromas profile of the wine.

Tasting

"Bright fruit. Pure and pretty young. Very bright. Very successful! " Jancis Robinson MW -

"Densely packed, juicy and alive, with a captivating mineral underpinning to the citrus and stone fruit flavors"

Stephen Tanzer - VINOUS

"Lime and grapefruit underpin what appears to be serious, brooding wine. This is followed by sweet melon, sweet and sour plums and tout saline acidity"

Greg Sherwood MW - DECANTER