Tim James: Getting more ambitious with chardonnay

I’m still looking for some specially great value local chardonnay. But having disappointingly realised a few weeks back that it’s pretty naive to hope for something good enough for the likes of us under a hundred bucks. I’ve raised my sights somewhat – hopefully good value stuff but not exactly cheap. My chance to do so without laying out my own hard-earned cash on some bottles came at last week’s trade tasting of that excellent and ever-expanding wine distributor Ex Animo. Of the 57 releases (clearly not all of them new) they were showing, eight were chardonnays, a decent proportion.

Nine, in fact, if you include (as I was more than happy to in my selective perambulation) Pieter Ferreira Cap Classique Blanc de Blancs 2018. Seven years on the lees have added to its ripe-apple gorgeousnessness without taking away from its freshness, rounding it out without its losing focus or precision. I’m sipping the previous vintage, 2017, as I write, and it also has a lovely succulent, fresh and subtly flavourful firmness. About R540, which is not a little money, but pretty good value – especially when you compare the quality with that of hundrum supermarket champagne (Moët Imperial, for example) at a few hundred rands more, whose success amongst all the Cap Classique is explicable only by ignorant snobbery. Incidentally, the prices I am giving here are obviously approximate; they derive from the Ex Animo trade prices to which I’ve added 35% to allow for a retailer mark-up (which is quite likely to be more rather than less than this, I’m afraid); a few of them might only be taking on their annual increase on 1 March, to make it complicated; but to work with those March prices is the best I can do.

So what of the non-bubble chardonnays? A great, and rather interesting, place to begin is Restless River, the Hemel-en-Aarde property which Craig and Anne Wessels have resolutely built over the last few decades into a model of finesse and integrity. Their more modestly priced Vineyard Selection Chardonnay comes, in the European tradition, from top terroir but younger vines. Both the 2023 Selection (R340) and the 2022 Ava Marie (R620) are predictably rather brilliant. The 2022 is from the better vintage, and that wine is grippier and more assertively “youthful”, asking for a few years at least, if possible. The flagship Ava Marie is actually readier to drink. This wine has a history of very good, positive ageability, but I wonder if this 2022 will gain much, even over a few years. It’s absolutely lovely now, more deeply serene and harmonious than the other wine. Neither of these is exactly cheap, but the Vineyard Selection is arguably the better value this release. Ava Marie is one of the Cape’s finest examples, and less expensive than a lot of others in the top flight, and even this year it’s a gratifying buy – if you have that sort of money.

The next most expensive chardonnay at this tasting has much less of a pedigree – if you discount the eminence of its producer as a maker of red wine. Beeslaar Chardonnay 2023 (R460) comes from widely-sourced fruit and is, I think, the third vintage of it made by Abrie Beeslaar, formerly of Kanonkop (where he still consults). It’s modestly oaked but a hint of vanilla persists. Although the alcohol is modest, there is a fruit-richness to the wine, and a hint of sweetness on the palate.

Chris Williams has now introduced a chardonnay to the impressive vineyard-specific Geographica range of his The Foundry label. Alethiea 2023 (the name apparently signifies ‘truth’ in ancient Greek) comes from the remote and lovely Tierhoek farm in Piekenierskloof, matured in a mix of clay and seasoned oak. At about R350, it’s close in price to Restless River Vineyard Selection and I think it’s great value for that price – very pure but complex, lively, fresh and elegant. One of my favourite wines at this tasting, and a great addition to the Cape’s chardonnay repertoire.

It’s looking to me, from this tasting at least, as though R350 is where really serious chardonnay starts. Julien Schaal’s Evidence Chardonnay 2023, from Elgin, is not too much more than that. It’s a suave, handsome and assured, modestly but effectively oaked wine, fairly understated and elegant, but with full flavours (I loved the hint of fennel I found).

Now we dip below R300, and I’m not sure after all, that we need to start at R350 for the grand stuff – certainly not for some pretty serious drinkability. Callender Peak Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay 2022 (R275), from the cool fruit-growing Agterwitzenberg Valley in the Ceres Plateau WO (we really are moving around in this little survey) is made by Donovan Rall, which counts plenty. It’s on the richer, creamy side, with some toasty oak, and there is a good freshness too.

Then another significant dip, to Copper Pot Chardonnay 2023, made by John Seccombe of Thorne & Daughters. The Ex Animo website and many other retailers quote a price of around R180, but it looks like there’s to be a pretty large, 20% increase at the end of the month – so if you want one of the better value chards around, get in before then. It’s gently rounded and pleasant, with a notably lemony core.

And last, Van Loggerenberg’s Break A Leg Chardonnay 2023, which looks set to stay well under R200 – about R175 to be more exact. Really nicely balanced with a characteristic feeling of Van Loggerenberg lightness and elegance; unoaked, bright and fresh but with the lemony note subdued. There’s more competition around for good unoaked chardonnay (I’ve mentioned Glenelly before), which is a style I really like, but I know for some people it’s not quite the thing. This is good wine, though.

One last wine – a total diversion from my theme. I was rushed at this tasting and limiting myself to chard, but at the last minute couldn’t resist trying Nuschke de Vos’s Vulpes Cana Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 (R420). Nuschke used to make one of the Stellenbosch cabs I particularly liked, at Reyneke,and this addition to her own young label is also from the Polkadraai Hills. Matured in only old oak, it’s light, pure, focused and properly dry, with authentic cab flavours. There are certainly not many traditional (richer, oakier, sweeter, more powerful) Stellenbosch cabs that I would rather drink, especially in youth. It’s just delicious. And the label shows a cute, bushy-tailed and curled-up little fox that would presumably rip my throat out if it could.

• Tim James is one of South Africa’s leading wine commentators, contributing to various local and international wine publications. His book Wines of South Africa – Tradition and Revolution appeared in 2013.