South Africa, Swartland
Chardonnay
Awards
4 stars Platter's South African Wine Guide
Tasting Notes
Alcohol
13.0%
Analytical data
dry
Vinification
Lammershoek’s philosophy is that the biggest part of winemaking takes place in the vineyard throughout the year. A minimalistic approach is followed in the wine style, which allows the opportunity to express the terroir in the bottle. On Lammershoek the decision on when to pick the grapes is based on tasting the berries. The grapes are harvested in the morning by hand, they are then sorted by hand before being crushed and destemmed. White berries are pressed immediately and left for settling overnight, the clean juice is racked off the sediment the following day. Red grapes are destemmed, and fermentation takes place with the skins, although there are some varieties that are fermented as whole bunch. Fermentation takes place spontaneously from natural yeast found on the vines. Fermentation and maturation methods of the wines vary from 3rd and 4th fill 500L French oak barrels, French oak foudres, cement tanks and stainless-steel tanks, these all add value as different components in the style of the winemaking. After bottling the wines are left to age in the bottle, the winemaker does regular tastings to decide the release date of the wine.
Vineyard: Paardeberg
Terroir What makes Lammershoek’s terroir unique is the harsh and extreme conditions where under the vines grow. With warm summer days and prevailing south eastern winds in the afternoon from the West Coast, which is 35km as the crow flies from Lammershoek, cools the earth’s surface down at night. The soil which consists mostly of Lammershoek decomposed granite combined with the slopes against the Paardeberg gives a unique organoleptically golden string throughout the range of wines. Climate The vines are grown in a Mediterranean climate, the summer is warm, and the air is dry. In the afternoon the eastern, south eastern wind usually picks up to cooldown the earth’s surface at night. Winter is cold, this is the rainy season where the annual rainfall is +- 400mm. Snow falls on the surrounding mountain tops about 50km away which supports the cold winters.
Soil Type
Lammershoek Decomposed Granite Soil
Viticulture
In the Paardeberg it is all about ensuring that the vines survive in these extreme conditions. The correct vineyard practice is therefore of the utmost importance to ensure that the vines utilize the energy it produces as sufficiently as possible, therefore it is necessary for our vineyard team to remove all competition such as weeds and moles from the vineyard. During growing season, all the unnecessary shoots are removed. After berry set the viticulturist decides whether crop reduction is necessary. These techniques ensure the optimal growth of the vines. All the old vines are farmed in bush vine form, dryland. The roots are forced to grow deeper in search of water as a result of no irrigation, these roots can grow up to +- 7 meters into the earth. This massive long root system plays a big role in the wine’s quality, the vines absorb a variety of minerals which results in a more complex grape composition that carries over into the wine style. The old vine’s yield varies every season due to weather dependency; the yield can be anything ranging from 0.5t/ha – 3t/ha.
Maturation
9 months in french oak
