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Information:

Crystallum is a family-run and privately-owned winery based in the Walker Bay region of South Africa.

Brothers Andrew and Peter-Allan are the third generation of Finlayson winemakers and sons of the man who pioneered Pinot Noir winemaking in the Hemel-en-Aarde region. Andrew is an architect by training and Peter-Allan a student of philosophy and economics, but it didn’t take long for the lure of wine to take effect, with Andrew drawn to the vineyards and Peter-Allan to the cellar.

The company was founded in 2007 when it produced just over four thousand bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. The following vintage saw the introduction of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and Crystallum now produces these Burgundian varieties exclusively, making up its collection with multi-vineyard blends and single-vineyard wines.

The Clay Shales Chardonnay is a single-vineyard wine from a site on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge that is ideally located in a mountain shadow, at high altitude and near the ocean. The wine is named after the Bokkeveld shale and clay soils on which it is grown, which combine to provide the perfect base for a balanced, Grand Cru-rivaling wine.

Wine making:

Whole-bunch pressed with no enzymes, SO2 or commercial yeasts added at pressing. After an overnight rough-settling, the juice was sent to barrel, with fermentation and ageing taking place over 10 months in a 2600L Foudre.

Description:

Nose: Complex and arresting, this vintage melds the freshness of grapefruit and white pear with the richness and depth of banoffee pie. 

Taste: The palate is textured and pithy, showing salted macadamia and oatmeal beside lemon peel. A generous expression of the single vineyard site, but with the fruit and acidity to age.