De Grendel is celebrating their first award of 2017! The leading European drinks trade publication, The Drinks Business, named De Grendel Op Die Berg Chardonnay as one of the best-performing Chardonnays under £20 in The Drinks Business Global Chardonnay Masters 2016. Winners included wines from Sicily, to Israel and Australia.
According to The Drinks Business, what makes the wines special is their judging process – each of these Chardonnays has been judged blind without any knowledge of their source country, allowing their experts to asses them purely for quality without prejudice about their region of origin. The winning wines were selected by an exacting panel of judges, made up of Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers.
While Sauvignon Blanc still heavily dominates the South African white wine market, Chardonnay is increasing in popularity, says De Grendel cellarmaster Charles Hopkins. South Africa has a style of Chardonnay for every palate he says. “Due to our geographic contrast there are quite a few different styles of Chardonnays from Elgin to Robertson, and of course Stellenbosch to Durbanville, from fruit driven, unoaked to broad and heavy wooded malolactic styles.”
De Grendel has the only Chardonnay in South Africa from the Ceres Plateau origin. “The wine has an amazing chemical composition with high acidity and great citrus fruit notes. It was kept for eight months in oak barrels, but doesn’t show strong wood characteristics,” says Charles.
more on degrendel.co.za
