Wine Composition
100% Chardonnay
Winemaker Comments
This delicious Chardonnay has apricot, coconut and orange peel aromas followed by flavors of marzipan, sponge cake and citrus rounded off with carefully judged oak and balanced, fresh acidity.
Awards
92 Points - Prescient Chardonnay Report
90 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2014 vintage)
4 Stars - Platter's Wine Guide
Technical Analysis
Alcohol Percentage
14.00%
pH
3.34
Residual Sugar
2.0 g/l
Total Acidity
5.7 g/l
Cellar Techniques
The grapes were whole-bunch pressed very slow and gently with a Pneumatic Bag Press. After 24 hours cold settling in stainless steel tanks, the juice was drained off into 40% new and 60% 2nd-fill Burgandian Hogsheads (300L barrels) for natural fermentation and maturation. Bi-weekly stirring (Batonnage) was exercised to enhance the extraction of flavour and aromatics, and to aid the process of natural malolactic fermentation. After 12 months, the wine was racked from barrel for stabilization and bottling.
Winemaker
Randolph Christians
Winery
Rustenberg has a wine-growing history dating back to 1682, when Roelof Pasman from Meurs, near the Rhine, recognised its wine-growing potential. By 1781 some 3000 cases of wine were produced on the farm. Production doubled by the end of the century and a new cellar was built. Wine has been bottled at this cellar for an unbroken period since 1892.
In the early 1800s Rustenberg was divided by owner Jacob Eksteen and a section was given to his son-in-law, who named it Schoongezicht and sold it soon after. Rustenberg and Schoongezicht were at their peak around 1812, with beautiful homesteads and flourishing vineyards. But by mid-century, recession coupled with disease in the vines, brought bankruptcy and dispossession.
Schoongezicht was rescued in 1892 by John X Merriman (who was to become Prime Minister of the Cape), and Rustenberg by his brother-in-law Sir Jacob Barry. Together they revitalised the farms. Fruit was sent to Covent Garden; new vines were grafted onto disease-resistant American rootstock; wines were exported to England and the Continent – and even found in Siberia.
In 1941 Peter and Pamela Barlow bought Rustenberg, later acquiring Schoongezicht and reuniting the properties. Their son Simon took over the running of the farm in 1987. The Barlows have been at Rustenberg for over 60 years: the longest period any one family has owned the farm.
