Durbanville Hills Chardonnay 2017, excellent partner to Carey Boucher Erasmus’s Asian Style Roast Chicken with Honey, Miso & Ginger Glaze

Monday, 12 February, 2018
Michael Olivier
Durbanville Hills has a special place in my heart. As I child, I rode all over them with my big black fat tyred Raleigh bicycle visiting friends whose parents grew grapes on farms which today are part of the 9 grape growers who provide Durbanville Hills Winery with its top-quality Grapes.

The Durbanville Hills Chardonnay 2017, is a great expression both of the grape and the terroir of the unique little valley which faces full on, both Table Mountain and Table Bay, the source of the cooling breezes which ameliorate the summer heat in the vineyards.

This leads to long hang time during which the grapes ripen and inevitably have a greater flavour and intensity. The grapes for the Durbanville Hills Chardonnay 2017 come from vineyards in the lower foothills, planted on southern slopes in dark red slopes. The vineyards provide an even handed 9 tons per hectare. Once in the cellar, the grapes are separately vinified and are left on their lees for four months which builds up good mid-palate flavours.

10% of the wine was fermented and matured on tight grained medium toasted French oak staves. The gentle oak flavours support the wonderful Chardonnay fruit in the final blend put together by Kobus Gerber, the white wine maker and Martin Moore, founding Cellarmaster at Durbanville Hills Winery. The blend is then prepared for bottling.

It looks like

Bottled under screw cap in a Burgundy shaped bottle with the elegant Durbanville Hills diamond shaped label. In the glass, a pale golden straw with youthful green flashes.

It smells like

Mainly tropical fruits, desiccated pineapple, and winter or piel de sapo melon. It tastes like Full round and palate filling from entry to exit. Fresh yellow fleshed peaches, ripe kiwis and windfall citrus. Very pleasant wine – characterful and soft.

It's good with

It is a crisp fresh wine, so perfect for a mid-morning glass or watching the sun go down. It is perfect with Oriental foods and delicate Keralan vegetarian curries. Carey Boucher Erasmus’s Asian Style Roast Chicken with Honey, Miso & Ginger Glaze is the perfect match for this sublime wine. Click here for her recipe.

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Kobus Gerber, Durbanville Hills White Wine Maker
Kobus Gerber, Durbanville Hills White Wine Maker

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