Elgin Ridge Chaos White 2017
By Christian Eedes, 5 April 2018
2
The Chaos White 2017 from Elgin Ridge won silver at the recent Wine Label Design Awards, design done by winemaker Kosie van der Merwe.
A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, winemaking involved some skin contact before maturation in older oak. On the nose, naartjie, peach and cut apple plus hints of dried herbs and marzipan. The palate is rich and full with tangy acidity – plenty of flavour with some peppery bite to the finish. The 2017 is sold out but the 2018 is available for pre- order at R350 per 500ml bottle.
Editor’s rating: 92/100.
Find our South African wine ratings database here.
Kwispedoor | 5 April 2018
Hi, Christian. This sounds quite tasty – probably with fair maturation potential. However, I’m a bit confused as to why it comes in a 500ml. bottle – is it a bit challenging to drink or something? If a wine is a great drinker, I’m only warming up after 500ml. and would be disappointed if it’s gone too quickly. Or perhaps the owners are trying to disguise the high price to a degree (the equivalent to R525 for a 750ml. for a dry white blend with no track record is not necessarily opportunistic, but it’s definitely far from cheap)? It doesn’t look like it’s a problem though, with them being sold out. Do you know what the reasoning behind the smaller bottle is?
Christian Eedes | 6 April 2018
Hi Kwispedoor, Brian Smith replies via email as follows: “There are a number of reasons for Chaos being available in the 50cl bottle size.
When Marion & I (and many other couples) go out to a restaurant we would like to order both a white and a red wine. We appreciate that restaurants offer wines by the glass but often the selection is poor. The 50cl bottle size enables the couple to order both in a convenient format – there will be a Chaos red in the future.
In addition many individuals like a couple of glasses of wine but do not want a whole bottle. This format allows them to open a new bottle without having to be concerned about how long the wine will be in pristine condition.
Throughout the world there is increasing pressure to drink less alcohol & once again this smaller format is ideal.”